Developments next week are judged as vital for Church-state relations in Greece, as well as relations between the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Mother Church of Orthodoxy, with the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Greece. A closely watched session of the Church of Greece’s permanent Holy Synod reconvenes on Wednesday, and is set to continue until…

The new Archbishop of America, His Eminence Elpidoforos, this week had his first contact with Greek Orthodox clergymen in the United States, addressing some 400 clerics via a video-conference. According to a report in the expatriate newspaper The National Herald, the video conference lasted roughly an hour. Active and retired Orthodox clerics heard the new…

The issue of the schismatic Orthodox Church in the newly renamed Republic of North Macedonia, known for centuries as the Archbishopric of Ohrid, re-emerged on the forefront this week — with the Ecumenical Patriarchate referring to a standing appeal by the latter. The Church of Constantinople said the appeal is under examination. In a related…

Construction on a new Orthodox cathedral in the city of Yekaterinburg has been temporarily halted, following stepped up demonstrations by local residents, who oppose the loss of green space where the church is being built. The matter reached all the way up to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said that “… everyone has a right…

More disturbing reports surfaced this week of attacks against former Muslims who converted to Christianity in the east African country of Uganda. The reports come as the Metropolitan of Kampala and All Uganda, His Eminence Jonas, this week announced the creation of a second Orthodox diocese in the country. One convert to Orthodox Christianity was…

More than 500 couples who had already started families but had no Church wedding participated in mass wedding ceremonies yesterday, reports the site of the Georgian Patriarchate. The services were held with the blessing of His Holiness Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia. The organizational work was undertaken by the Society of Chokhonetsev of Georgia, founded by…

Georgian clerics, their supporters and parish mark the Family Purity Day today, which is usually celebrated by marching in the central Tbilisi and special services in the main churches. Today is also the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia, marked in the whole world. The Georgian Orthodox Church established the Family Day in 2014,…

During his homily on Sunday, May 12, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel explained that the consecration service makes a church the gift of humans for God, and a gift of the Heavenly Father offered to us humans. The Patriarch of Romania offered these remarks at the consecration of a church at Turnu Monastery, a monastic settlement…

To the Reverend Clergy, The Esteemed Parish Councils, The Philoptochos Sisterhoods, The Youth Organizations, And the Faithful of the Holy Archdiocese of America: Today, May 16, 2019, His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America held a teleconference call with the Hierarchs and clergy – active and retired, of the Holy Archdiocese of America. The call was…