The opening of an exhibition entitled “Archbishop Nicholas – An Apostle to Japan” will open at the chapel of the Lomonosov Moscow State University in the coming days. Next year, 2020, marks the 150-year anniversary of the establishment of the Russian Orthodox mission in Japan, and the 50-year anniversary of his canonization, as an “Equal-to-the-Apostles,…

Finally, the annoyance expressed by the Russian Orthodox Church to a decision by the Ecumenical Patriarchate to grant the requests of Orthodox believers in the Ukraine for Autocephaly, continues to generate insecurity among the faithful, and often fears of expressing one’s convictions. Nevertheless, the Moscow Church’s official website this week reported that hierarchs in Ukraine’s…

The theme of a two-day seminar organized by the Greek foreign ministry is “Religious and Ecclesiastical Diplomacy”. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, His Beatitude, Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Ieronymos, Foreign Minister Giorgos Katrougalos and representatives of the World Council of Churches and individual European Churches will briefly address the session. Deputy FM Markos…

The Ecumenical  Patriarch Bartholomew In this week referred to the Patriarchate of Constantinople’s international initiatives for environmental protection around the globe. His All Holiness Bartholomew spoke at the opening of a conference entitled “Environment, School and Society – 10 Years of Environmental Actions”, which includes the participation of more than 200 educators. The conference was…

The semi-autonomous monastic community of Mt. Athos – located in north of the country – as well as religious freedoms, were included in a discussion held this week between Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Markos Bolaris and US ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt. The Greek minister briefed the US envoy over his government’s priorities in terms…

The Turkish government is reportedly pressuring Athens to allow the reopening of 19 Ottoman-era mosques around Greece for use as Muslim places of worship. The specific report was carried by Turkish mass media. More radical positions held by the Erdogan government in the neighboring country are often not expressed publicly, but rather, appear in the…

Orthodox clerics that participated in a general assembly of their association, held on Thursday in a central Athens cathedral, expressed their continued opposition to the government’s attempt to change their payroll regime. Members of the Association conferred for four hours, later announcing that they have rejected all of the government’s proposals regarding changes. Their standing…

On Thursday, 21 February 2019, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church held its working session at the Synodal Hall of the Patriarchal Residence, under the chairmanship of His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel, during which the following decisions were made: 1.The Holy Synod appreciated the manifold and rich activities carried out in the Romanian Patriarchate…

Monks at the Monastery of Valaam, located in the extreme northwest Russian republic of Karelia, this reported that they have managed to cultivate pineapples in a special greenhouse at the monastery. Karelia is located in a subarctic climate zone. The tropical fruit have been cultivated by the monks for the past two years, with production…