Protests about new film about history of Acropolis
20. August 2009 - 9:25Greece's new Acropolis museum will drop some scenes of a short film by director Costa Gavras after protests from the Greek Orthodox Church, the museum's director said Sunday.
The row over the film, which informs visitors about the history of the 5th century BC Parthenon temple and depicts early Christians ruining the monument, erupted just weeks after the opening of the new Acropolis museum in June.
The importance of the work of orthodox clergymen in the Russian army
10. August 2009 - 9:05On August 3, the Head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill during his visit to Sevastopol stressed the importance of the work of orthodox clergymen in the Russian army. Kirill stated that the modern soldier must be "strong in spirit" and emphasized the importance of spiritual support for servicemen, noting that, "for warriors to be capable of that [sacrificing their lives], we must support them with our prayers, while clergymen should be working with the armed forces," he explained (Interfax, August 3).
Turkish PM promises reform to religious minorities
16. August 2009 - 13:59Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan promised democratic reforms on Saturday in a rare meeting with Turkey's religious minority leaders highlighting the issue of minority rights, a key stumbling block in its EU membership bid.
Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and leaders of the small Armenian, Jewish, Syriac Orthodox and Syriac Catholic communities had lunch with Erdogan and senior ministers on Buyukada island near Istanbul, a patriarchate official told Reuters on condition his name not be used.
State Duma MPs to consult the Patriarchate before adopting drafts
9. July 2009 - 13:03The United Russia political party plans to involve the Moscow Patriarchate in legislative work. "We agreed we would show the Patriarchate the State Duma's plan for legislative work and hold preliminary consultations on all questions that may raise doubts to avoid mutual misunderstanding," Deputy Secretary of the Party's General Council Presidium and Head of the State Duma Labor and Social Policy Committee Andrey Isayev told Interfax-Religion.
Russian Orthodox Church predicts decline of the Western prosperity and the fall of capitalism before long
8. July 2009 - 13:01Western Civilization will soon witness its decline, unless it begins to recover its lost Christian heritage, believes the Moscow Patriarchate.
"The society living only for the sake of mundane interests of individuals is bound for failure, and capitalism will fall in a few coming decades in just the same way as communism and Nazism fell in their due course," head of the Synodal Church and Society Department Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin is quoted as saying on the website of Orthodox society Radonezh.
