The Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church met at the Monastery of the Protecting Veil in Kharkov 27 May 2017. It was chaired by His Beatitude Onufriy, Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine, and was timed to the 25th anniversary of the Council of Kharkov. The meeting took place at the historic building in which the Council of Kharkov was held, as part of the church celebrations devoted to the jubilee. The Synod adopted a Message to the Episcopate, Clergy, Monastics and Laity on the Occasion of...

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia consecrated the Cathedral of the Resurrection in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan capital city of Bishkek and celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the newly consecrated church. Before the service the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church was met at the cathedral door by Bishop Daniel of Bishkek and Kyrgyzstan, the Director of the Kyrgyz State Commission for Religious Affairs Z. Ergeshev, and the Russian Ambassador of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan A. ...

On June 4, a conflict erupted between the faithful of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate around the building of a church in Kolomyia. According to IRres, which is citing a local television station STC, it is a wooden Church of Annunciation of the 17th century. The activists of the UGCC came to the church building and organized a meeting in which it claimed the rights to it. Allegedly, only Greek Catholics ruled there, but in the Soviet...

The Razumkov Center presented at a round table in Kyiv a new study of the religious situation in Ukraine, which was carried out on March 3 - 9, 2017. According to the new sociological survey, the proportion of believers in Ukraine has dropped as compared to 2014 and 2016. The figures dropped to 67% (in 2014 it was 76% and in 2016 70% respectively), equaling the pre-war level of 2013. Traditionally, high religiosity is declared by residents of western Ukraine, they constitute over 91% of belie...

Eighty-one percent of Russians know that the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker have been brought from Italy to Russia and 18% have not heard of this," the Russia Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) said. Seventy-two percent of respondents said they would like to visit and kiss the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker, most of them are women (81%), people aged over 60 (82%) and Orthodox Christians (87%). Eighty-three percent of the respondents are positive about the fact that holy relics a...

Tb Festivities to mark the 40th anniversary of the enthronement of Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of All Georgia have been cancelled, the Georgian Patriarchate said on its website. "Given the unstable situation in the world and the current social situation in Georgia, with the blessing of His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II, the celebrations linked with the 40th anniversary of the enthronement of the catholicos-patriarch and the invitations to Georgia sent to the heads of Orthodox Churches and o...

Das frühere Oberhaupt der Ukrainischen Griechisch-katholischen Kirche (UGKK), Lubomyr Kardinal Husar, ist tot. Husar verstarb am 31. Mai 2017 im 85. Lebensjahr nach schwerer Krankheit in Kiew. In Lviv, seiner Geburtsstadt, wo Husar auch viele Jahre als Großerzbischof der UGKK seinen Amtssitz hatte, wurde der 1. Juni zum Trauertag ausgerufen. Die Begräbnisfeierlichkeiten fanden am 5. Juni in Kiew statt.

Das Erzbistum Split-Makarska hat das kroatische Kulturministerium und die Stadt Split aufgefordert, von einer Aufführung des Theaterstücks „Unsere Gewalt und Eure Gewalt“ abzusehen, da es religiöse Gefühle verletze. Das Stück des umstrittenen kroatischen Regisseurs Oliver Frljić wurde im Rahmen des Theaterfestivals „Marulić-Tage“ in der dalmatischen Stadt Split aufgeführt. In einem offenen Brief kritisierte das Erzbistum, dass die Aufführung nicht nur die Gefühle von Gläubigen, sondern aller ...

Am 26. und 27. Mai 2017 hat in Tartu/Dorpat der Jubiläumskongress der Estnischen Evangelisch-Lutherischen Kirche (EELK) stattgefunden. Mit dieser Veranstaltung unter dem Motto „Zur Freiheit hat uns Christus befreit“ erinnert die EELK an den ersten estnischen Kirchenkongress, der am 31. Mai/1. Juni 1917 ebenfalls in Tartu stattfand und die Weichen für die Gründung einer freien Nationalkirche in Estland setzte. Bis dahin war die lutherische Kirche in Estland ein Teil der Evangelisch-Lutherische...