The Council of State (CoS), Greece’s top administrative court, has ruled against legal challenges by individual citizens seeking to rescind a government decision – abruptly issued last Friday – banning the presence of worshipers from Wednesday’s great Epiphany services in Orthodox places of worship around the country. The Epiphany, known in Orthodoxy as the Theophany…

With the blessing of Archbishop Makarios of Australia, the parish of St. Paraskevi Brisbane on Sunday held the inaugural event of celebrations for the bicentennial anniversary of the Greek War of Independence – at the Archdiocese’s summer camp on Bribie Island on Sunday. During the event, the contribution of every patriot and especially of children…

The Serbian Orthodox Church has immediately mobilized to offer assistance to quake-stricken residents in Croatia. A strong 6.4 on the Richter scale earthquake devastated the Petrinja district of central Croatia on Dec. 29, resulting in seven deaths and major damages. The first 12 of 30 mobile homes have been delivered to residents who were left…

Τhe few remaining Christians on the northeast Aegean island of Tenedos, joined the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s Metropolitan of Imvros and Tenedos, His Eminence Kirillos, on Tuesday morning for a sanctification of the waters service, on the eve of the Epiphany. In a brief statement, His Eminence noted that “…we gathered here today, the few remaining Orthodox…

“We are asking for the cooperation of the Church. We are hoping that the Church will reconsider its position,” alternate government spokesperson Aristotelia Peloni said on Tuesday on Alpha radio, concerning the Holy Synod’s defiance of a government decision banning church attendance on the Epiphany holiday, as a protective measure against Covid-19. She confirmed that…

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday sought to defuse the tension that has arisen with respect to the celebration of Epiphany, in a brief meeting with Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Ieronymos on the sidelines of the ceremony to swear in the new members of the cabinet. The prime minister expressed his concern over…

The ceremonies to swear in the new members of the cabinet, as well as those that were transferred to different ministries during a reshuffle the previous day, were concluded before President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday, with the arrival of the last group of eight new deputy…

The government on Monday said the Church of Greece must “realize the critical significance of the current juncture for society, as it has indeed so far responsibly showed that it does,” in response to the Holy Synod’s aired criticism against church closures on Epiphany Day (January 6). “Throughout all stages of the coronavirus pandemic, the…

The swearing-in of the new members of the Greek Cabinet took place on Tuesday, before president of the republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou. A modest government reshuffle was announced the previous day, with four ministers changing portfolios and with the addition of several deputy ministers. The religious oath was administered by the Archbishop of Athens and All…