Japanese-born American actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa has been baptized into the Christian Orthodox faith. Tagawa, best-known for his role as the villain “Shang Tsung” in the film “Mortal Kombat”, has often been cast in the role of a samurai in Hollywood productions. The sacrament was performed by Russian Orthodox Bishop Hilarion, the Metropolitan of Volokolamsk, at…

A great success was the 43rd annual Greek Orthodox Folk Dance & Choral Festival (FDF) of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco which took place February 14-17, 2019 at the Ontario Convention Center in Ontario, California! FDF is dedicated to promoting, encouraging and continuing the Orthodox faith, Greek heritage and culture among individuals, families…

The Greek Orthodox Board of Education of the Archdiocese in Australia presented the 6th Annual Award Ceremony for Excellence in the previous year’s Higher School Certificate exams by students of our Greek Orthodox Day Schools in New South Wales. The much anticipated event was held in the Great Hall of St Andrew’s Theological College on…

Recent news reports from Ukraine indicate that the Russian government is moving against the new autocephalous Orthodox Church in Ukraine in the areas of Ukraine under its control. The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group reported on February 14, 2019 that “the Orthodox Church of Ukraine has been ordered to vacate the Cathedral of Vladimir and…

On February 19, 2019, His Beatitude Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, together with his delegation, began his visit to the Holy Archdiocese of Kinshasa, which is led by His Eminence Nicephoros, Metropolitan of Kinshasa and Exarch of Central Africa. During his visit, the Patriarch visited parishes, blessed the faithful, and…

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…