International

ARTE TV has released a video that highlights the painted monasteries in Romania

Please find available online and below until October 14th, this film by Arte on the painted monasteries of Bukovina in Romania, more precisely on that of Suceviţa, reports Orthodoxie.com. Click on the Video Settings (bottom right corner of the video) to get English subtitles. Excerpt from the presentation: “In the extreme north of Romania, not far from the Ukraine…

Sep 20, 2018Iulian Dumitraşcu

Patriarch of Alexandria begins 5-day visit to Polish Orthodox Church

The Patriarch of Alexandria Theodoros II was festively greeted by representatives of the Polish Orthodox Church yesterday as he landed in Warsaw for a five-day fraternal visit to the Polish Orthodox Church. The patriarch is accompanied by His Eminence Archbishop Savvas of Nouvias and an Archimandrite Sylvester, reports the site of the Polish Orthodox Church. The…

Sep 20, 2018Gheorghe Anghel

Orthodoxy has become second biggest religion in Austria

Orthodoxy has become the second biggest religion in majority-Catholic Austria, reports Der Standard. While intense debate is underway in Austria on the growing Muslim population, Orthodoxy has quietly and discreetly grown into the second largest religious community in the country. Islam has held the first place in terms of migrants to Austria in recent years. According…

Sep 18, 2018Gheorghe Anghel

Greek Orthodox Church Attempting to Reclaim Centuries-Old Manuscripts in U.S. Collections

More than a century after being removed from a historic monastery in northern Greece, rare ninth-century Christian manuscripts have been located in the United States, where a team representing the Greek Orthodox Church is waging a tiresome legal battle to return them to the library from which they were taken, pappaspost.com informs. At the moment,…

Sep 18, 2018Gheorghe Anghel

Turkey’s Sümela Monastery to open its doors after three years of restoration

Turkey expects to open the Sumela Monastery in Black Sea province of Trabzon after restoration works end soon, Culture and Tourism Minister said according to Anadolou Agency. The Sümela Monastery, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage List, is one of the leading touristic locations in the Eastern Black Sea area. Located in the Macka…

Sep 16, 2018Aurelian Iftimiu

Turkish court rejects request to convert Hagia Sophia into mosque

The Turkish Supreme Court has rejected the request of one religious group to convert the Hagia Sophia Cathedral, currently a museum, into a mosque again, reports Interfax-Religion, cited by Orthochristian. The court rejected the application based on the formal mistakes that appeared in it. In its plea, the religious association had argued that barring Islamic prayers at…

Sep 15, 2018Gheorghe Anghel

Elder Amphilochios Makris to be proclaimed a Saint during 4-day manifestation in Patmos

The canonization of St. Amphilochios (Makris), proclaimed by the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate on August 29, will be celebrated next week on the Greek island of Patmos, where the holy elder labored in monasticism. His canonization will be celebrated over a 4-day period, September 17-20, at the Monastery of St. John the Theologian…

Sep 14, 2018Aurelian Iftimiu

Church of Cyprus responds to bill on “legal recognition of gender identity”

On Monday, August 27, the Cypriot Ministry of Justice launched a public consultation for a new bill on the legal recognition of gender identity. This represents the first stage in a long process before the bill, providing for anyone over 18 to legally change their gender, can become law, reports Cyprus Mail Online. Those wishing to…

Sep 13, 2018Gheorghe Anghel

Twelve Philippine women baptized in Cyprus

Twelve women from Philippine received Friday, August 31, 2018, the Mystery of Holy Baptism at the St Andrew and All Russian Saints in Episkopeio, Nicosia. The service was officiated by His Eminence Metropolitan Isaiah of Tamassos and Oreini. According to the official website of the metropolis, the event is very significant, since it is the…

Sep 6, 2018Aurelian Iftimiu

Church of Greece to build park in Mati, help hospital find living relatives of WWII soldiers

The Church of Greece will create an outdoor park in Mati, where a sweeping wildfire in July killed 91 people in the greater area and destroyed homes, the Permanent Holy Synod announced Wednesday. The park will be built on a property belonging to the Monastery of the Dormition of the Theotokos in Penteli after it…

Sep 6, 2018Aurelian Iftimiu

Ecumenical Patriarchate to Allow Second Marriage for Greek Orthodox Priests

The Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate has decided to allow a second marriage for Greek Orthodox priests in the event that they are widowed or abandoned by their wife, religious news website Romfea.gr says, cited by eu.greekreporter.com. The decision, that is considered historic in the Orthodox Church, specifies that a second marriage will not be…

Sep 4, 2018Gheorghe Anghel