The Divine Liturgy was first celebrated on Sunday at the wooden church in Minami-Alps, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. The church stands within the grounds of Japan’s first Orthodox cemetery established by the Romanian Orthodox community, which is open to people of all nationalities wishing to be laid to rest in accordance with their faith. After about…
“Parents, clergy and the entire community are called to offer young people time, trust and guidance, helping them discover the freedom of a life lived in truth and communion with God,” His Eminence Metropolitan Antonie of Bessarabia said on Sunday. His Eminence celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Monastery of the Nativity of the Mother…
Patriarch Daniel of Romania has called on Orthodox theology faculties to combine academic excellence with prayer, spiritual formation, and the Church’s pastoral mission, warning that theological education risks secularisation when it loses its connection to liturgical life. In a message to the 11th Congress of Orthodox Theology Faculties and Departments of the Romanian Patriarchate, held…
“Religious education supports the growth and development of the younger generation,” Polish Orthodox bishops said last week following the autumn session of the Holy Synod of the Polish Orthodox Church. “Education authorities, school headteachers and parents should be aware of this and make every effort to eliminate anything that does not contribute to human development,”…
His Eminence Metropolitan Chariton of Kananga, of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, recounted in a special edition of Trinitas TV how Orthodox communities emerged in the Democratic Republic of the Congo following unexpected encounters with local people. The metropolitan explained that early Orthodox missionary work in certain regions of Congo faced numerous difficulties, from vast distances…
“Hell or heaven begins in our souls even in this world,” His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel warned on Sunday, explaining the parable our Saviour Jesus Christ told about the Rich Man and Poor Lazarus. “Today’s Gospel teaches us that our eternal happiness or unhappiness beyond the grave depends on how freely we live out the mystery…
The Romanian Embassy in the Republic of Moldova issued a statement welcoming the election of Archimandrite Nicodim Petre as Bishop of Bălți. “His pastoral, missionary and educational experience, together with his consistent attention to young people, provides an important foundation for this new responsibility and for strengthening a ministry based on dialogue, trust and communion on…
The Archdiocese of Bucharest held commemorative religious services on Friday in memory of the victims of the Colectiv nightclub fire. Priests from Bucharest’s Sector 4 and those serving in the capital’s public cemeteries prayed both for those who died and for those whose lives were irreversibly changed by the fire on 30 October 2015. The…
“Let us not become accustomed to the suffering of those around us. Let us bear our cross with patience, like Lazarus, listen to God’s word while we still have time, and joyfully share what we have received as a gift, following the example of the Holy Unmercenary Physicians Cosmas and Damian,” Assistant Bishop Iachint of…
Monday marks the 35th anniversary of the enthronement of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I. The 270th Patriarch of Constantinople was born on 29 February 1940 on the island of Imbros (Gökçeada, in present-day Turkey) and was given the name Demetrios at baptism. Education and academic activity He studied at the Gregorian University in Rome,…
The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church has approved amendments to the oath priests and deacons take at ordination, introducing new provisions governing public communication online. The Synod adopted the decision at its meeting on 22 October. According to the document, the Commission for Church Administration, Pastoral Care and the Organisation of Church Life…
His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem visited last Sunday the injured in the terrorist attack at the Greek Orthodox Church of St George in Hammoud, Al-Karak, Jordan. His Beatitude was accompanied by Metropolitan Hesychios of Capitolias during visits to Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein Military Hospital and the Italian Hospital, where the injured were receiving…
The Sacerdotes Militares, the military chaplains’ choir, the first ensemble of its kind in the Romanian Patriarchate, has been established to promote unity and communion in pastoral ministry through sacred music. The choir was established in the context of introducing Military Clergy Day, observed annually on 26 October, the feast of St Demetrius the Myrrh-Gusher.…
Family is one of the main links connecting Romanians living abroad with their country of origin, according to the Diaspora Barometer, a study conducted by INSCOP Research for Banca Transilvania Group. According to the research, 56% of Romanians have connections with the diaspora, whether through their own experience of migration, family members or other people…
At its meeting on Thursday, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church designated 2028 as the Solemn Year of the Use of Biblical Texts in the Liturgical Life of the Church and the Commemorative Year of Translators and Printers of Biblical and Liturgical Books throughout the Romanian Patriarchate. The year 2028 will mark the…
The Romanian Orthodox Monastery of St. Demetrius the New in Middletown, United States, celebrated its patronal feast. On this occasion, the wonderworking Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God was brought to the monastery for veneration. His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae of the Americas celebrated the Divine Liturgy on Saturday, 24 October, concelebrating with priests…
Bishop Ioan Casian of Canada explained the role of humility in Christian life on Tuesday, the feast of St Demetrius the New. The bishop celebrated the Divine Liturgy at St George the Great Martyr Diocesan Cathedral in Saint-Hubert, Quebec, where he highlighted the saint’s example: a “simple man, a shepherd who later became a monk…
During its meeting at Balamand Monastery in Lebanon from 20 to 24 October 2026, the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Antioch examined social media’s role in the Church’s mission and reaffirmed the importance of lay participation in ecclesial life. Meeting under the presidency of His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch, the bishops reviewed…
Theologians, researchers and representatives of monastic communities will take part in a winter school organised by the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies (IOCS) in Cambridge, exploring the role of monasticism in the Church’s mission in contemporary society. The academic event will take place from 3 to 5 December at Westminster College in Cambridge, United Kingdom,…
Archaeologists from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice have identified the remains of a church dating from between the late fourth century and the first half of the fifth century in the ancient city of Altino, northern Italy. The building has a rectangular floor plan measuring approximately 30 by 20 metres, with no apse, and is…