The January 6th announcement of autocephaly for an independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine marks a historic achievement as Ukraine seeks to chart its own future – US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said. According to Pompeo, the United States reiterates its unwavering support for a sovereign, independent Ukraine. “The United States maintains its strong support…

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili says that she has not congratulated the Ukrainian people or the Ukrainian leadership on the granting of autocephaly to the new church of Ukraine because the Georgian Orthodox Church has yet not voiced its stance on this issue. “This is a very sensitive issue for us,” Zourabichvili said at a press…

In an interview to the InterPressNews Georgian news agency, a hierarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Nicholas of Akhalkalaki and Kumurdo, said that in order to take a decision concerning the actions of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in Ukraine, a thorough examination of this matter is needed. Speaking about the newly created structure, Metropolitan…

In his talk with a journalist from Polityka newsmagazine His Beatitude Metropolitan Sawa of Warsaw and All Poland underscored that in the light of canon law “metropolitan Epifany” Dumenko (head of the newly created structure called “Orthodox Church of Ukraine”) is not a clergymen as he was not ordained by a canonical Church. “Great harm…

The internationally respected historian of early Christianity and Orthodox theologian Dr. Paul L. Gavrilyuk explained the IOTA acronym chosen for the International Orthodox Theological Association at the inaugural conference held in Iasi. In his presidential address delivered at the opening ceremony on Wednesday, January 9, the Association’s President and Founder Paul Gavrilyuk noted that IOTA…

His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel, the Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church, joined EU and Romanian leaders at the official launch of Romania’s first presidency of the bloc, which took place at the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest on Thursday, January 10, 2019. Delivering speeches at the opening ceremony on behalf of Romania were the President of…

Opening address by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on the Forum on Modern Slavery “Awareness, action, and impact”, Istanbul, January 7, 2019: Your Eminences and Excellencies, Dear representatives of the Presidency of Religious Affairs of Turkey and of the Mufti of Istanbul, Dear friends, We welcome and embrace each of you with the blessings and…

The government’s proposal to strike clerics off the state’s payroll topped the agenda of last Thursday’s meeting between Education Minister Costas Gavroglou and a special eight-member committee from the Church of Greece. The proposal to remove clerics from the state’s payroll – and to pay them instead via an annual state subsidy to be managed…

According to the honorary patriarch, the church should work with the government on the matter. Filaret, who is an Honorary Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, says the receipt of the tomos of autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine is only launching the process of unification of Ukrainian Orthodoxy. The cleric’s comments came…