The clergy and faithful of the Russian Orthodox Patriarchal parishes in the United States, Canada and Mexico over the weekend marked the 50th anniversary of the establishment of a special union of parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate in North America. The commemoration was timed to coincide with the anniversary of the repose of the…

  Greece’s relevant culture minister, Lina Mendoni, this week toured several archaeological sites and monuments on the large island of Evia, which lies directly off Greece’s eastern mainland. Mendoni first toured the late medieval cathedral of St. Paraskevi in the island capital of Halkida, accompanied by the Metropolitan of Halkida, His Eminence Chrysostomos. The cathedral…

  Turkey’s armed forces on Sunday began annual exercises on the territory of Cyprus illegally occupied by Turkey, as tensions continue to simmer with Greece and other regional countries in the eastern Mediterranean. Islamist Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday, meanwhile, again tried to rally his supporters and deflect from Turkey’s collapsing economy by…

  Greece’s personal data watchdog authority ruled this week that parents and guardians can merely refer to conscientious reasons, instead of religious grounds, to exclude their children from religious classes in public schools. A written notice is still required for the exclusion.

  Today, Sept. 8, marks UN International Literacy Day, first observed in 1966. This year’s annual commemoration has been designated as a day of “Literacy teaching and learning amid the COVID-19 crisis and beyond”. On their part, Orthodox churches around the world have long promoted literacy programs by operating schools, especially in areas beset by…

  The Church today venerates the Nativity of Our Most Holy Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. A feature is posted today on the Panaghia Tsambika and Panaghia SkiadeNI, two toponyms and dedicated pilgrimages associated with the Virgin Mary on the Dodecanese island of Rhodes.  

On Saturday, 5 September 2020, the clergy of the church of Saint Sava, the first Archbishop of Serbia, in Mrkonjic Grad and the faithful along with His Grace Bishop Sergije of Bihac-Petrovac gathered in order to welcome Their Graces Bishops Jovan of Slavonia and retired Bishop of Middle Europe Konstantin. The high guests arrived to…

The holiday of the Holy Martyr Irinej, Bishop of Lyon, and Holy Martyr Lupus of Novae were prayerfully celebrated in the monastery of Pakra on 5 September 2020. With the clergy and the faithful people, Bishop Jovan of Pakrac-Slavonia officiated the Holy Hierarchal Liturgy in the monastery church of the Presentation of the Most Holy…

Actors are beginning to arrive in Greece for continued shooting of Yelena Popovic’s film, Man of God, about the great 20th-century hierarch and wonderworker St. Nektarios of Aegina. Filming initially began on June 8. Alexander Petrov arrived in Greece late in the evening on Saturday, September 5. The Russian actor will play a close assistant…