Metropolitan Antonie of Bessarabia and Her Excellency Fern Horine, the United Kingdom’s Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova, discussed religious freedom and the Church’s social mission on Thursday. The meeting took place at the Metropolis’ headquarters in Chișinău, where the Metropolitan outlined both the challenges facing Church communities and the projects being developed to support…
The first official bilateral meeting between Romanian and Israeli experts on restoring the Romanian Skete at the River Jordan took place on Wednesday at the monastic establishment. Archimandrite Ioan Meiu, Representative of the Romanian Patriarchate in the Holy Land, announced it in a social media post. Architect Bogdan Teodorescu and conservator-restorer Cătălin Palamariu attended the…
The Pan-Orthodox Conference on Heresies and Para-Religions concluded by adopting 17 conclusions in which representatives of the Orthodox Churches called for discernment in the face of occult practices. The final document was unanimously approved on Thursday and sets out the Orthodox Church’s theological and pastoral position on these practices, drawing on Holy Scripture and the…
The Romanian Orthodox parish in La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, France, has recently purchased a plot of land, with support from Romania’s Department for Romanians Abroad, to build its own place of worship. Her Excellency Ioana Bivolaru, Romania’s Ambassador to France, visited the community in October, when the parish marked the occasion with prayers, and expressed her support…
Bishop Macarie of Northern Europe baptised two Swedish nationals, a mother and son, last weekend at the Romanian Orthodox parish church in Uppsala, Sweden. On the same occasion, seven young Scandinavians became catechumens. Maria and Martin Hoppe chose to join the Orthodox Church after nearly two years of preparation. “I was a catechumen for almost…
“Goodness is not truly good unless it is shared with others. Because joy, too, is not truly joy unless you share it with others, unless you allow others to share in your joy,” said His Grace Bishop Siluan of Italy on Sunday. The hierarch celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Romanian Orthodox Church of St…
The Romanian Orthodox Deanery of Eastern Germany has been reorganised into two new ecclesiastical districts: the Saxony-Thuringia Deanery, headed by Fr Cezar Burlacu, and the Berlin-Brandenburg Deanery, headed by Fr Ioan-Dragoș Manu. The reorganisation was announced to clergy on Saturday during the autumn meeting of the Eastern Germany Deanery, held at the Romanian Orthodox parish…
Fr Dragoș Herescu, Director of the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies (IOCS) in Cambridge, and Răzvan Porumb, the institute’s Deputy Director and Director of Research, received the Order of Faith and Communion from His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel. The decorations were presented during a visit to the Patriarchal Residence on the feast of St Demetrius the…
In a message to the 36th Pan-Orthodox Conference in Corinth, Greece, Patriarch Daniel addressed the challenges posed by magic, astrology, divination and other forms of contemporary pseudo-spirituality. His Grace Bishop Siluan, the Romanian Orthodox Bishop of Hungary, represented His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel at the Conference and conveyed the patriarchal message to the participants. In his…
Assistant Bishop Marc of Neamț, of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of Western Europe, attended the 33rd meeting of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of Benelux, held on Wednesday in Brussels, Belgium. The hierarch attended as the representative of Metropolitan Iosif of Western and Southern Europe. Other participants included Metropolitan Isaak (Patriarchate of Antioch), Bishop…
The Metropolis of Corinth, Greece, hosted the 36th Pan-Orthodox Conference on Heresies and Para-Religions from 3 to 5 November, organised by the Church of Greece. This year’s theme is “Magic, Divination, Astrology and the Prediction of the Future”, and the Romanian Patriarchate was represented by Bishop Siluan, Romanian Orthodox Bishop of Hungary, according to the…
Restoration and research work continues at Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, where approximately 3,000 tonnes of silt and rubble have been removed from underground structures. Turkey’s Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, provided local media with new details about the restoration and research underway at the former Byzantine church, according to the publication Turizm…
His Eminence Archbishop Ioachim of Roman and Bacău urged abbots and abbesses in his archdiocese to use mobile phones and new technologies in monasteries with discernment. His Eminence addressed the monks and nuns responsible for the archdiocese’s monastic communities during a synaxis held on Tuesday at the Diocesan Centre in Roman. “Use these modern and…
“Mothers make a special contribution to their children’s development, while fathers are called to be attentive, active and responsible. Raising children is a shared responsibility,” His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel said on Monday, at the conclusion of the first day of the pastoral-missionary conference for clergy of the Archdiocese of Bucharest. “A mother’s self-sacrificing love for…
The first day of November marked 25 years since the repose of Fr. John Romanides, a leading Orthodox theologian of the 20th century in dogmatic theology and patristics. John Savvas Romanides was born in 1927 to Greek parents who emigrated to America shortly after his birth. He studied theology at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School…
Persecution of Christians has worsened in 10 of the 18 countries examined in the report Persecuted and Forgotten? 2024–2026, published by the international charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). The report, covering August 2024 to June 2026, found that none of the countries studied recorded an overall improvement. In many cases, conditions deteriorated…
Representatives of the Orthodox Churches to the European Union (CROCEU) met in Brussels to discuss preparations for an international conference dedicated to the teachings of the Church Fathers in the age of artificial intelligence. The meeting took place on Tuesday at the Ambiorix Orthodox Centre and was chaired by His Eminence Metropolitan Athenagoras of Belgium,…
The Nativity Fast will begin this year on Sunday, 15 November. During the 40 days of preparation for Christmas, Orthodox Christians will have 14 days when fish is permitted, according to the Church calendar. Throughout this period, the Church encourages the faithful to intensify their prayers, attend religious services and perform acts of charity, combining…
Members of the Holy Synod of the Polish Orthodox Church, meeting in Warsaw last week, established the burial rites for children who die at birth or before birth. Responding to enquiries from Polish Orthodox Christians in the Kraków area concerning the burial of stillborn children, the Synod clarified that the mandatory practice established in the…
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…