International

Pat. Irinej supports Serbian Church’s proposed name change

His Holiness Patriarch Irinej of Serbia has voiced his approval of the proposal to amend the name of the Serbian Orthodox Church to emphasize its inextricable ties to much-suffering Kosovo, reports B92. The Serbian Church is set to vote on a new Church constitution in May, which includes the addition of “the Patriarchate of Peć” to the title…

Mar 14, 2018Gheorghe Anghel

Finnish Orthodox Church condemns initiative to legalize euthanasia

The Council of Bishops of the Finnish Orthodox Church under the Ecumenical Patriarchate recently expressed its official opinion on the civil initiative to legalize euthanasia, at the request of the Parliamentary Committee on Social and Health Issues, reports the site of the Finnish Church. Reflecting Orthodox Tradition, the Finnish Church stated its disapproval of the practice…

Mar 14, 2018Gheorghe Anghel

Patriarch Kirill celebrates 42nd Anniversary of Ordination to Episcopate

His Beatitude Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia celebrates Wednesday, 14 March 2018, the 42nd Anniversary of his Ordination to the Episcopate. His Beatitude Kirill (secular name Vladimir M. Gundyaev) was born on 20 November 1946, in Leningrad. After graduation from school, he entered the Leningrad Seminary and later the Leningrad Theological Academy, from…

Mar 14, 2018Iulian Dumitraşcu

20th anniversary of the uncovering of the relics of St Matrona. Patriarch Kirill: ‘Let us transform sorrow into spiritual power and inner joy’

Twenty years have passed since the uncovering of the relics of Saint Matrona of Moscow, one of the most popular contemporary Russian Saints whose feast day was recently added to the calendar of the Romanian Orthodox Church. To mark this important event for Moscow’s Intercession (Pokrovsky) Monastery where the holy relics of St Matrona are…

Mar 12, 2018Aurelian Iftimiu

Patriarch Theophilos III celebrates his name day

His Beatitude Theophilos III, Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and All Palestine, celebrates Friday his name day: Martyr Theophilus of the Holy 40 Martyrs of Sebaste. The Patriarchate of Jerusalem keeps the Unrevised Julian calendar (by old style). Therefore, 40 Holy Martyrs of Sebaste will be celebrated on Thursday, March 22, 2018. His Beatitude…

Mar 9, 2018Iulian Dumitraşcu

Russian Orthodox Church adds nine Romanian Saints to its calendar

During this year’s first working session held Wednesday at St Daniel Monastery in Moscow, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church approved the proposal of Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, to add to the Russian Church calendar several saints glorified by the Romanian Orthodox Church…

Mar 8, 2018Aurelian Iftimiu

Holy Synod of Ukrainian Church to consider canonizing five new saints

Materials relating to the lives of several people venerated throughout Ukraine have been sent to the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to be considered for official glorification among the saints, reports the site of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. A meeting of the Commission for the Canonization of Saints of the Holy Synod of the…

Mar 1, 2018Gheorghe Anghel

The Sunday of Orthodoxy at the Jerusalem Patriarchate

On Sunday February 12/25, 2018, the Jerusalem Patriarchate celebrated the victory and triumph of the Church through the restoration of the holy icons, after the harassment caused by iconoclasm, during the reign of the reverend Empress Theodora Augusta and her son Emperor Michail III, in 842. The restoration of the icons in the holy Churches…

Mar 1, 2018Gheorghe Anghel

Austrian Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz meets with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. ‘The Orthodox faith community makes a valuable contribution to Austria’s communal life.’

During his visit to Austria, His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew met Tuesday with Austrian Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. During the meeting that took place at the Federal Chancellery in Vienna, the two parties had the opportunity to discuss issues of common interest such as respect for religious freedom and human rights, the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s role and…

Mar 1, 2018Aurelian Iftimiu

Greek President receives highest decoration of Greek Orthodox Church

At the end of the Divine Liturgy celebrated on the Sunday of Orthodoxy by His Beatitude Archbishop Hieronymos at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Athens, the President of the Republic of Greece, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, was awarded the highest decoration of the Greek Orthodox Church, the Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Paul the Apostle. Athens…

Mar 1, 2018Aurelian Iftimiu

Vienna | Ecumenical Patriarch attending the “Interreligious Dialogue for Peace, Promoting Peaceful Coexistence & Common Citizenship”

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew attended the “Interreligious Dialogue for Peace, Promoting Peaceful Coexistence & Common Citizenship” in Vienna on 26 February 2018.   The conference created a first-ever joint action plan for Arab religious leaders to lead the way in repairing the divisions created by extremists, and rebuilding social cohesion and common citizenship in the Arab…

Mar 1, 2018Gheorghe Anghel