The Holy Community, the administration of the semi-autonomous monastic community of Mount Athos, this week announced an easing of restrictions in place to prevent exposure to the Covid-19 virus. Specifically, up to 20 visitors and pilgrims per day will be allowed to visit each monastery; 15 for each cenobitic skete. Additionally, travel between monasteries on…

The Serbian Orthodox Metropolitan of Dabar-Bosnia, His Eminence Chrysostom, met this week with the Serbian representative of the presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik, with talks focusing directly on the return of the Church’s properties in the city of Sarajevo. Dodik reminded that a huge amount of Church property in the Bosnian has been…

The issue of the Hagia Sophia also generated a reaction from Russia’s foreign ministry, with a spokeswoman saying any decision by the Turkish government must take into account UNESCO’s guidelines. In answer to a media question, Russian foreign affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow was awaiting a balanced decision that would take into account UNESCO…

The European Commission Vice-President for Promoting the European Way of Life, Margaritis Schinas, this week flatly rejected allegations by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who two days earlier, claimed that Turkey’s exclusion from the Union’s “safe list” for Covid-19 travel was politically-motivated. Speaking during a conference in the western port city of Patras on Thursday,…

The Supreme Mufti of the Central Spiritual Muslim Board of Russia, Talgat Tajuddin, has proposed that the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) in Istanbul be made a common place of worship for Christians and Muslims. “It can be opened for Muslims and for Christians alike. Because there is but one God, and this structure…

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The St. Maximus the Greek Institute this week unveiled a new musical compilation of songs first performed by legendary singer and actress Sofia Vembo, whose voice is associated with the Greek Army’s victory against Italian fascist forces in the early stages of WWII on the Albanian front. The 12 songs are performed by a chorus…

The University of Balamand and the Lebanese army on Wednesday signed a memorandum of cooperation and a protocol for academic cooperation between the two sides. The university was established in northern Lebanon in 1988 by the Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, during the tenure of reposed  Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius IV of Antioch. The university’s…

 The Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, His Beatitude Ieronymous, on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding, on behalf of the Church, with the country’s infrastructure and transports ministry. The memorandum foresees the study and construction of an metropolitan ecclesiastical museum, the restoration of a historic building in central Athens that once housed the Holy…