The date was 26 July 1970 when the late Archbishop of Australia Ezekiel presided over the service of the Official Opening of the Parish of St Nectarios at the Sydney suburb of Burwood. Half a century later, on the exact same day, the Parish welcomed scores of parishioners of all ages who, in a…

His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew sent a letter of support expressing his sympathy to His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia due to the increasing spread of the Coronavirus pandemic in Melbourne and the fact that there have been victims within the Greek Orthodox community. His All Holiness conveyed the assurance that the Mother Church…

The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, His All Holiness Bartholomew I, on Sunday arrived on the historic island of Tenedos, in the extreme northeast Aegean, on the occasion of the feast day of Paraskeve the Righteous Martyr of Rome – the isle’s patron saint. Ancient Tenedos, which was prominently referred to as far back as Homer’s…

“Turkey must finally decide what its broader geopolitical goal will be,” said Margaritis Schinas, the European Commission’s vice-president and Commissioner for the promotion of the European way of life, during the presentation of the new EU strategy for the Security Union. Asked about the first Muslim prayer in Hagia Sophia, Schinas stressed that “as a…

House President Demetris Syllouris on Thursday sent an open letter to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan condemning the decision to turn Hagia Sophia in Istanbul into a mosque. He said Turkey’s illegal actions in Cyprus turned Ankara into a conqueror rather than a guarantor of the island’s independence. Commenting on the Hagia Sophia decision, Syllouris said…

Church bells in Cyprus tolled in a funereal tone for five minutes on Friday at noon to mark the conversion of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul into a mosque while the government, parties and groups condemned the Turkish move. The first prayers after the recent decision to turn the centuries-old monument into a mosque were held…

In this video the great Greek actress of international fame Irene Papas is singing the Acathist Hymn kontakion Τῇ ὑπερμάχῳ στρατηγῷ, “The Invincible Champion”, in Hagia Sophia, 1983. She is singing it a cappella, her voice alone expresses the 15 centuries of this hymn and reflects on the greatness of the Basilica that was built…

The President of Serbia, Mr. Aleksandar Vucic, visited the construction site of the Serbian and Russian Orthodox Cathedral and the Spiritual-cultural center in Banja Luka, where he was welcomed by His Grace Bishop Jefrem of Banja Luka on 23th July 2020. President Vucic and a delegation of the Republic of Serbia were accompanied by the…

An EU representative told Athens News Agency (ANA-MPA) on Saturday that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to turn Hagia Sophia into a mosque “undoubtedly creates distrust, promotes new divisions among religious communities and undermines the EU’s efforts for dialogue and cooperation.” The same source noted that the EU Council of Foreign Ministers held on…