Christian world

Statement of the Meeting of the Heads of the Christian Churches in Damascus

Mor Aphrem Monastery, Maarat Saydnaya – August 12, 2019

Monastery of St. Aphrem the Syrian –Maarat Saydnaya hosted the Patriarchs' meetings:  His Holiness Mar Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and Supreme Head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Patriarch John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and His Beatitude Patriarch Joseph Absi Greek Catholic Melkite Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Alexandria and Jerusalem, with the presence of His Eminence Cardinal Mario Zenari, Apostolic Nuncio in Syria and the participation of the heads of the Christian Churches in Damascus.

Metropolitan Hilarion speaks at global Christian youth forum in Manila

On 8^th – 10^th August 2019, the Jesus Global Youth Day took place at the Mall of Asia Arena in the city of Manila, the Philippines, bringing together over thirty thousand participants from more than 100 countries. With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, attended the forum.

International Youth Day

An initiative by the United Nations, the International Youth Day is celebrated on August 12 every year. First observed on August 12, 2000, the day marks an awareness day and draws attention to a given set of cultural and legal issues surrounding youth. As mentioned by the UN, there are around 1.8 billion young people between the ages of 10 and 24 in the world currently and paying a special attention to these youths is the need of the hour. Therefore, in order to raise awareness of challenges and problems facing the world’s youth, the International Youth Day is celebrated. 

Evangelical Lutheran Archbishop of Finland and Leo of Finland at the Phanar

Archbishop Leo of Karelia and All Finland, who is the head of the Finnish Orthodox Church, and Archbishop Tapio Luoma of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland met with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, on Tuesday, August 13, at the Phanar, during a pilgrimage visit at the Ecumenical Patriarchate and Constantinople.  During their meeting, attended by associates of the two Archbishops, issues related to inter-Christian dialogue and cooperation in Finland, as well as the course of relations between Orthodox and Evangelical Lutherans in general, were discussed.

Monastery in Evia evacuated due to fire break out

Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Chalkis spoke to OPEN TV station about the evacuation of the Holy Monastery of Panagia Makrymallis due to the big fire in the area of Agrilitsa, between Kontodespoti and Makrymalli villages.  The Metropolitan said that the fire was reported at around 3.30 am, that the monks are safe and that the Monastery is not currently in danger. “The Monastery has been evacuated for precautionary reasons. There are three Monks there who notified us at dawn, around 3.30 am to 4am”, explained Metropolitan of Chalkis.

Petition to cancel transfer of St. Andrew’s Church to Constantinople

A new petition was registered on the official website of the President of Ukraine on Saturday, calling for the cancelation of the transfer of Kiev’s historic 18th-century St. Andrew’s Church to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, reports the Union of Orthodox Journalists. As of 2:30 PM (Moscow) today, the petition has gathered 171 signatures of the necessary 25,000, with 91 days remaining. On October 17, former President Petro Poroshenko introduced a bill to transfer St. Andrew’s to the permanent use of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, in order “to eliminate the negative consequence of the interference of Russia—an aggressor country—in Ukrainian Orthodoxy.”

Joint Statement by the Leaders of the Christian Churches in Damascus

A joint statement was issued today, Monday, August 12, after the meeting of the Leaders of the Christian Churches in Damascus.

In particular, Patriarch John X of Antioch, the Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church, Ignatius Aphrem II, and the Patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church of Antioch, Youssef Absi, met at the Monastery of Saint Ephraim the Syrian, in the presence of the Apostolic Nuncio to Syria, Mario Zenari.