Despite the current coronavirus pandemic and a sort of panic that overwhelms the people, a church of the Resurrection of Christ in Valjevo was full of the faithful on Sunday as in last couple of Sundays. His Grace Bishop Milutin of Valjevo celebrated the Holy Hierarchal Liturgy with the concelebration of the local clergy of…

On March 17, Orthodox clergymen blessed the central streets of Georgia’s capital Tbilisi by splashing holy water. Before the ceremony, a special liturgy was held at Holy Trinity (Sameba) Cathedral in Avlabari district. Clergymen noted that through this ceremony, they asked God to protect and save the population from the new disease (coronavirus). They moved…

A rebuilding program aimed to reconvert the iconic Hagia Sophia Orthodox Cathedral, in the Black Sea city of Trabzon, from a museum, its current state, into a Muslim mosque, has been blocked by a first instance administrative court in eastern Turkey. An announcement issued by a local chamber of commerce called for the Cathedral to…

The Metropolitan Bishop of Montenegro and the Littoral, His Eminence Amphilochios, referred to the mass participation of young people in twice-weekly rallies and prayers services in the small Adriatic country, held in protest against a controversial law that the Church charges is a thinly veiled attempt to by the Montenegro state to seize its properties…

The Archbishop of America, His Eminence Elpidophoros, on Monday announced extra measures to protect the health of the Greek Orthodox flock of America, and the health of the wider public. These decisions were taken in light of the recommendations by US federal, state, and municipal officials as well as public health agencies. Greek Orthodox churches…

In southeast Europe, the Patriarch of All Romania, His Beatitude Daniel, addressed a sermon of encouragement and hope to the Romanian people, amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, speaking in Bucharest’s Patriarchal Cathedral. The Romanian Church has repeatedly urged the faithful in the country to trust public health authorities and to comply with guidelines and issued…

The Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, His Beatitude John X, called on the faithful to treat life as a “sacred gift” by God, in underlining the need for people to follow public health officials’ guidelines and recommendations for dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. His Beatitude reminded the flock not to assemble in large…

The Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, His Divine Beatitude Theodoros II, again expressed his dire concern over living conditions in several parts of the continent, and especially the lack of clean drinking water. His Divine Beatitude called on Orthodox clerics and hierarchs in Africa to console and stand by, in solidarity, with…

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday evening abruptly announced that his government has ordered the closure of all places of worship in the east Mediterranean country until March 30, for all but ‘personal worship’, as part of even stricter measures to reduce exposure to the coronavirus outbreak. In a post on the Greek prime…