On March 26, 2019, a press conference took place at the Kiev Laura of the Caves on ‘The Ukrainian Orthodox Church in March: the reaction of international organizations, legal action, religious conflicts in regions – figures and facts’. It was given by Archbishop Clement of Nezhin and Priluki, head of the UOC information-education department; Bishop…

n 26 March 2019, at the Kiev Lavra of the Caves, with the blessing of the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Antony of Borispol and Brovary met with rectors of parishes located in the Volyn diocese, whose church buildings had been seized by schismatics, the archpastor reported on his Facebook page. The priests…

Watch our news bulletin in English with Charilaos Tzannis:    

Mother Katerinia, the abbess who led efforts to restore the historic Our Lady of Al-Natour convent in Lebanon, passed away this week. Originally a monastery, the Al-Natour site had come under attack several times during the Lebanese Civil War.

High-ranking Russian Orthodox Church cleric Dmitri Smirnov this week raised eyebrows in Moscow by warning that “… the Ukraine, Belarus and Russia are dying out. As a Russian nation we have 30 years left; Muslims will reside in the European portion, and the Asia portion will become Chinese … Just as the Hagia Sophia in…

  Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, His Beatitude Ieronymos, on Wednesday expressed his condolences and particular heartache over the passing of Archbishop of Australia Stylianos. In a statement, Ieronymos notes: “I knew him for many years and we enjoyed a sincere brotherly friendship. He was a particularly charismatic hierarch, a tremendous theologian, a prolific…

Greek media on Wednesday cited UNESCO sources as saying that changing the Hagia Sophia’s World Heritage Site status would require approval by the Paris-based organization. In statements to the Orthodoxia news agency, an UNESCO source reminded that Turkey is a member of the international organization,and, as such, must implement its decisions.In a particularly biting dispatch…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan continued a pre-election crescendo of nationalist and Islamist-tinged campaign speeches this week, as his ruling AKP party is reportedly faring worse than expected in opinion polls for Turkey’s two biggest municipalities – and ahead of local elections at the end of March. Following a recent interview on state television, in…

On March 25, 2019, Metropolitan Hilarion, head of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations (DECR), met in Moscow with President of Lebanon Michel Aoun. The high guest was accompanied by Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Gebran Bassil, Ms. Mireille Aoun, special adviser to the president, Mr. Rafik Chlala, presidential media adviser; and other…