Orthodox news

The Week in Pictures: March 2 – 8, 2020

The Orthodox World seen through the lens of photographers on March 2-8, 2020. Follow us on Twitter: @BasilicaNews We would gladly include one of your photos depicting Orthodox life in our weekly selection. All you have to do is send the picture(s) you have taken to our email address [info @ basilica.ro] along with a…

Mar 12, 2020Ștefana Totorcea

Coronavirus: Ecumenical Patriarchate urges prudence, patience, and the avoidance of panic

The Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate on Wednesday urged prudence, patience and the avoidance of panic as the new coronavirus continues to spread and the number of confirmed cases rises throughout the world. In a communique signed by the Secretariat of the Holy Synod, the Patriarchate of Constantinople thanked all healthcare professionals and scientists…

Mar 12, 2020Aurelian Iftimiu

HB Arch. Hieronymos II of Athens celebrates his 82nd birthday

On March 10, 2020, His Beatitude Hieronymos II, Archbishop of Athens and All Greece celebrates his 82nd birthday. His Beatitude Hieronymos II born Ioannis Liapis in Oinofyta, Boeotia, in 1938, is a graduate of the Faculty of Philosophy and of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Athens and holds degrees in Archaeology, Byzantine…

Mar 10, 2020Sorin Ioniţe

Hungary’s ambassador to Holy See impressed by Orthodox chapel at Bucharest Henri Coandă Airport

While at the “Henri Coandă” International Airport in Otopeni, Eduard von Habsburg, Archduke of Austria and Hungarian Ambassador to the Holy See, retreated to the airport chapel and posted a short message about it on a social network. “Want to know how to do a REAL airport Chapel? Go to Bucharest Airport… (including incense and…

Mar 9, 2020Ștefana Totorcea

Bethlehem churches to close after suspected coronavirus cases: official

Several churches in Bethlehem including the Church of the Nativity have been temporarily closed for 14 days according to an order from the Palestinian Ministry of Health after some suspected cases at a Bethlehem hotel, RFI reports. Imad Shahadeh, head of the local health directorate, told AFP that a group of Greek tourists had visited…

Mar 9, 2020Aurelian Iftimiu

St Eanswythe: Relics of Anglo-Saxon saint found in church wall

Relics discovered more than a century ago in a Kent church are almost certainly the remains of an early English saint who was the granddaughter of Ethelbert, the first English king to convert to Christianity, experts have concluded. Saint Eanswythe, the patron saint of the coastal town of Folkestone, is thought to have founded one…

Mar 7, 2020Gheorghe Anghel

USA: Executive Committee of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops meets to Prepare for 10th Anniversary Celebration

On Thursday, February 27, 2020, the Executive Committee of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America convened at the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America to discuss the 2020 and 2021 budgets, ongoing projects, and the upcoming 10th Anniversary of the Assembly, to be held May 2-5 in Washington, DC.…

Mar 6, 2020Gheorghe Anghel

Patriarch Daniel attends the award of the Coudenhove-Kalergi European Prize to President Iohannis

His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel on Wednesday, March 4, attended the ceremony awarding the Coudenhove-Kalergi European Prize to Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis at Cotroceni Palace. The award was presented by His Serene Highness Prince Nikolaus von Liechtenstein, President of the European Society Coudenhove-Kalergi. The event was attended by Mr. Donald Tusk, President of the European People’s…

Mar 6, 2020Aurelian Iftimiu

Romanian Metropolitan invites doctor to tell believers how to avoid coronavirus

As people across Romania are gripped by anxiety, hoping that the coronavirus doesn’t affect them, His Eminence Metropolitan Ioan of Banat invited a doctor to address believers following the Sunday Divine Liturgy on how to avoid the spread of the new virus. “Dear brothers and sisters, seeing the anxiety and the disorder, because such a…

Mar 5, 2020Aurelian Iftimiu

Newly consecrated Bishop Benedict celebrates first Divine Liturgy in home town

One week after his ordination to the episcopate, His Grace Bishop Benedict of Bistrița, Romania’s youngest Orthodox hierarch, celebrated his first Divine Liturgy in his home town Sartăş. Addressing those present, the assistant bishop to the Archdiocese of Vad, Feleac, and Cluj, confessed that after his ordination the first thing that came to his mind…

Mar 5, 2020Aurelian Iftimiu

Bishop of Huși: We live in an age of technology and another type of fasting is required, a media quarantine

His Grace Bishop Ignatie of Huși cautioned that in an age of technology we should extend our fasting rules to technology in order to gain spiritual peace during Lent. ‘We live in an age of technology and another type of fasting is required, a media quarantine,’ the Bishop of Huși stressed during Forgiveness Vespers marking…

Mar 5, 2020Aurelian Iftimiu