An ethnic Albanian mayor in Kosovo continues to refuse to hand over land to a UNESCO-protected Serbian Orthodox monastery in the province, ignoring a judicial order and even pressure by the EU. The 14-century Visoki Dečani Monastery continues to be guarded by NATO forces. The municipality has refused to return more than 24 hectares of…

A joint announcement issued this week by the Parish Council of the Greek Orthodox Holy Trinity Cathedral in Chicago, along with the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago, referred to further initiatives to prevent the Cathedral and the parish’s property from going on the auction block. The parish’s property was used as a guarantee for a…

The Patriarch of All Romania, His Holiness Daniel, His Beatitude Daniel, called parents, educators and the Church to devote more time to children and to imbue them with Christian and traditional values, as he said. In a related development in Moldova, thousands of Orthodox faithful and residents of the country assembly in the capital of…

A ceremony marking the reopening of the historic Panaghia Soumela Monastery, following restoration works that begun in 2015, is set for Saturday. The monastery, located near the southeastern Black Sea coast, in modern-day northeast Turkey and specifically in Trabzon province, had for millennia served as a center of Orthodoxy and Pontian Hellenism, since its founding…

Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, His All Holiness Bartholomew I, on Friday concluded his visit to Greece. Earlier on Friday, he received the US ambassador to Greece, Geoffrey Pyatt, with discussions revolving around developments for the Archdiocese of America, where a new Archbishop, His Eminence Elpidoforos, was elected by members of the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s Holy Synod…

On May 22, 2019, the Day of the Translation of the Relics of St Nicholas the Wonderworker from Myra of Lycia to Bar, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations (DECR), after the celebration of the Divine Liturgy at the church of Our Lady the Joy to All…

A delegation of the Polish Orthodox Church visited Kazakhstan this week as well. The delegation was led by Polish Orthodox Bishop His Grace Pavel. The Polish Orthodox hierarchs were received by the Metropolitan of Astana and Kazakhstan, His Eminence Alexander. The Polish delegation participated in the holding of Orthodox Church services and also toured cathedrals…

On Thursday, May 23, 2019, the Ecumenical Patriarch, His All Holiness Bartholomew I touched on the contentious issue of Autocephaly for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, during his tour of the Athens Journalist Union’s educational institute in downtown Athens. The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople granted the Tomos of Autocephaly to the Ukrainian Church last November, a…

On Thursday, May 23, 2019, the Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew and the Primate of the Church of Greece, Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Ieronymos, attended the inauguration of a geriatric research center and elderly care unit, which is funded and operated by the Archdiocese of Athens. Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos also attended the inauguration. The…