The Chudov Monastery, named in honor of the miracle of the Archangel Michael at Conae, was built in 1358, and stood within the Kremlin walls until it was destroyed by the godless soviets in 1929. The 14th building of the Kremlin was built over the site of the Chudov and Ascension monasteries between the Spassky Gate and the Senate Palace from 1932 to 1934; the dismantling of the building began in the fall of 2015, revealing a number of archaeological treasures. Now those treasures will be on di…

Meeting at Danilov Monastery on August 30 under the chairmanship of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church established a new feast for the pious faithful of the Lithuanian Orthodox Church and the Orthodox Church at large. Having heard a request from His Eminence Metropolitan Innocent of Vilnius and Lithuania, the hierarchs resolved to establish the feast of All Saints Who Have Shone Forth in the Lithuanian Land, reports the press se…

Im Vorfeld seiner Generalversammlung am 7. September klären sich die Optionen für die Zukunft des Pariser Exarchats. So haben die Gemeinden des „Erzbistums der orthodoxen Gemeinden russischer Tradition in Westeuropa“ Anfang Augst zwei Schreiben erhalten: einen Vorschlag vom Ökumenischen Patriarchat und einen von der Russischen Orthodoxen Kirche (ROK). Begleitet wurden die Dokumente von einem Brief von Erzbischof Jean (Renneteau), dem Leiter des Exarchats, mit der Aufforderung an die Geistlichen…

Bei ihrem ersten Zusammentreffen haben der ukrainische Präsident Volodymyr Zelenskyj und der Ökumenische Patriarch Bartholomaios beide die Unabhängigkeit der Orthodoxen Kirche der Ukraine (OKU) betont. Wörtlich sagte Zelenskyj: „Ich werde mich für die Unabhängigkeit der Kirche einsetzen“. Dabei unterstrich er jedoch auch, die „Behörden sollten sich nicht in kirchliche Angelegenheiten einmischen“. Gegenüber Medienvertretern erklärte der ukrainische Präsident, der Patriarch und er hätten „über al…

Im August haben sich die Teilnehmer einer Konferenz im ukrainischen Tschernigov für die Autokephalie der orthodoxen Kirche in Belarus ausgesprochen. Dies fordert insbesondere die von der Weltorthodoxie nicht anerkannte Belarussische Autokephale Orthodoxe Kirche (BAOK), die in Belarus auch nicht als Religionsgemeinschaft registriert ist, ihre wenigen Gemeinden agieren illegal. In den USA jedoch gibt es mehrere registrierte Gemeinden, die auch über Kirchengebäude verfügen. Die kanonische Weißruss…

The official website of the Orthodox Church of Greece made a release on the results of the meeting of the Holy Synod, held on August 26-28 this year. According to the recommendations of the Synodal committees for the dogmatic and canonical issues, as well as Orthodox and inter-Christian relations regarding the Ukrainian question, the Holy Synod of the Orthodox CHurch of Greece "recognizes the right of the Ecumenical Patriarch to grant autocephaly as his canonical right; it refers the privilege…

During the roundtable meeting "Christian Education: Experience and Prospects" more than 50 religious and non-governmental organizations have adopted a Resolution requiring the Russian Federation to stop political persecution and immediately release all Ukrainian citizens imprisoned for political reasons in Russia and occupied Crimea, prisoners of war and civilian hostages in the occupied Donbass. The issue of the release of Ukrainian sailors has also been raised, The Institute for Religious Fre…

Сurrent plans and challenges facing the Ukrainian Pentecostal Church were discussed at a meeting of the Committee of the Ukrainian Pentecostal Church, reports the Pentecostal site of Ukraine. There is a need to introduce training programs for ministers (primarily pastors and deacons) on the subject of "pastoral counselling". There is a great need for this, especially among young people: the analysis of data during the current youth festival has shown it. "After working with the youth…

Many years of restoration work at the ancient St. Catherine’s Monastery, carried out under the auspices of the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities, have been completed. During the project, the territory surrounding the monastery was landscaped, the roads leading to the monastery and to Mount Moses were repaired, larger parking spaces for buses were created, and an electronic security system was installed, reports Romfea. With the restoration work, the Ministry aims to increase visitors to the holy…

Priests, doctors, and social workers have teamed up again for a unique mission trip along the Ob River in central Russia. The missionaries plan to visit 45 remote settlements in this 23rd annual voyage of the Apostle Andrew the First- Called missionary ship, reports Vesti Novosibirsk. The clergy meet with Orthodox faithful in the lightly-populated areas who are in need of spiritual support and Church Sacraments. The initiative for organizing the missionary voyages belongs to the Church. “This…

Das Oberhaupt der Moskau unterstehenden Ukrainischen Orthodoxen Kirche (UOK), Metropolit Onufrij (Beresovskij), hat die politische Neutralität seiner Kirche betont. In einem Interview mit dem ukrainischen Fernsehsender Inter erklärte er, die Kirche könne „keiner Partei dienen, sie ist nicht parteiisch“. Sonst wäre die Kirche ebenso eine politische Organisation wie eine Partei; die Kirche aber diene allen. Die Orthodoxe Kirche der Ukraine (OKU) hingegen bezeichnete er in einem anderen Interview…

Während der Proteste in Moskau haben Demonstranten in einer Kirche Zuflucht vor der Polizei gefunden. Rund 100 Protestierende versteckten sich am 27. Juli in der zentral gelegenen Kosmas-und-Damian-Kirche vor den mit Gewalt gegen die Demonstration vorgehenden Sicherheitskräften. Die Geistlichen ließen die meist jungen Leute herein und beteten mit ihnen für den Frieden. Der Vorfall erregte die Aufmerksamkeit der russischen Medien, weil die Russische Orthodoxe Kirche Protesten meist ablehnend geg…

In Sugdidi, der Hauptstadt der westgeorgischen Region Mingrelien und Oberswanetien, haben Aktivisten begonnen, Unterschriften für ein Verbot von „LGBT-Propaganda“ zu sammeln. Die erste Aktion fand am 20. Juli vor der im Bau befindlichen Kirche der Gottesmutterikone von Iveron in Kombination mit einer Diskussionsveranstaltung statt. Zudem veranstalteten die Initianten ein Essen, zu dem alle eingeladen wurden, die die Petition unterzeichneten.

Metropolit Onufrij (Beresovskij) von Kiew, das Oberhaupt der Moskau unterstehenden Ukrainischen Orthodoxen Kirche (UOK), hat den russischen Patriarchen Kirill und den neuen ukrainischen Präsidenten Volodymyr Zelenskyj aufgerufen, sich für den Austausch von Gefangenen im Donbass einzusetzen. In einem TV-Interview erklärte er, er habe Patriarch Kirill gebeten, Schritte für die Freilassung ukrainischer Kriegsgefangener zu unternehmen. An den ukrainischen Präsidenten habe er einem analogen Brief mi…

The canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church won another legal victory on 22 July, as the Sixth Kiev Administrative Court of Appeals dismissed the Ministry of Culture’s appeal in the case of the forced renaming of the Church. Thus, the District Administrative Court’s earlier decision stopping the process of forced renaming remains in force, reports the YouTube channel First Cossack. However, the Ministry of Culture continues to look for workarounds and to do everything possible to forcibly rename th…

The 30th Colloquium of European Parishes (CEP) started in Lviv on July 27. 110 European citizens, priests and laymen came to Ukraine to find the answer to the question "How to be active Christians in modern Europe" in discussions. The organizer of the forum in Ukraine is the Foundation of St Volodymyr supported by the charity Foundation "Renovabis."The most numerous groups came from Germany, France, Spain (Catalonia), Italy, Romania, Malta, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium. The Ukrainian delegatio…

Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv and all Ukraine greeted Ukrainians on the entry into force of the law on the state language in Ukraine. The greeting is posted on the Facebook page of the head of OCU. "Today, the long-awaited law on language came into force in Ukraine. This year was marked by really great events for us: the rise of the independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine, and now one of the most valuable gifts of our Motherland — the Ukrainian language…

“So many brilliant and renowned theologians and teachers have graced the campus of Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary [SVOTS] over its 80-year history,” said Subdeacon Alexander Hatcher, SVOTS Director of Institutional and Advancement. “We are so pleased that now you can literally hear their voices in lectures and talks that had been in danger of being lost or forgotten.” Hundreds of old analog recordings of Father Alexander Schmemann, Father John Meyendorff, Father Thomas Hopko, Me…

Thanks to an annual competition held by the Russian Orthodox Church and the Federal Penitentiary Service (FPS), prisoners have the opportunity to speak about their Orthodox faith and reveal their inner world through iconography and art. Since 2013, the Synodal Department for Prison Ministry and the FPS have organized the “Not by Number but by Humility” competition, which focuses on Orthodox painting in even years and on iconography in odd years. The contest has been attracting more and more par…

Established in 2014, Byzanfest is the world’s first and only online festival that screens short-films made by Eastern Orthodox Christian filmmakers. The Festival goes live from Sunday 21st July until 4th August 2019, running concurrently with live venue screenings which are hosted by Global Screening Partners. „As the world’s media and entertainment have become increasingly on-demand and interwoven with social media, Byzanfest saw the opportunity to venture into an emerging concept: the online…