Christian world

Burial of Nestorian Christians discovered in China

Scientists have discovered an early burial with remains of Nestorian Christians in the Chinese province of Henan, in a niche of the rock, situated in the famous Longmen grotto near the town of Loyang, reports the KIPA agency with the reference to the Ucanews Catholic news source from Asia.

A cross is engraved in a niche near the site where human bones and ashes were laid. This is probably the oldest Christian site on the territory of China.

Church-museum opens in historic St. Petersburg shopping center

The newly-opened cultural complex, associated with the name of a merchant who became a saint—St. Seraphim of Vyritsa—will be located inside the Gostiny Dvor ("The Merchant Court"—a historic Russian term for indoor markets) shopping center in St. Petersburg.

The museum of merchants and the house church occupy the first floor of the building, where those in charge of Gostiny Dvor used to meet.

Archaelogists examing one of the most ancient churches in Britain

Archaeological excavations on the site of one of the most ancient surviving Christian shrines of Britain will soon begin. This is St. Piran's Oratory (Chapel) near Perranporth, Cornwall, in the south-west of England, reports Sedmitza.ru, citing KIPA/Apis.

The building, constructed in the 5th or 6th century, was covered with sand and surrounded by a concrete silo in 1980 to protect it from foul weather. Now the specialists have given the "green light" to carry out excavation work, which is to begin in February or March of 2014.

All Shrines of Maloula either destroyes or desecrated

A radical Jabhat al-Nusra "opposition" group, which occupied the small Christian town of Ma'loula in Syria in the last months of 2013, desecrated absolutely all shrines of the town, reports al Hadas portal with the reference to materials of the al Akhbar Lebanese newspaper.

According to evidence of eyewitnesses who fled from Ma'loula during the latest warfare in the region, members of al Nusra tried to change the religious and architectural-historical look of the ancient Christian town entirely: completely destroying some churches, the militants brought down all bells from other ones. The fate of two other world-famous monuments of Ma'loula was no less tragic: extremists blew up the statue of Christ the Savior, which had stood at the entrance of St. Thecla Convent, as well as the statue of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, which had stood close to the Safir hotel, the latter of which served as the main shelter for Takfirists for many months.

Archbishop of Canterbury to meet Ecumenical Patriarch

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, will travel to Istanbul on Monday 13 January 2014 to visit Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

As Archbishop of Constantinople and New Rome, the Ecumenical Patriarch is primus inter pares (first among equals) in the Eastern Orthodox communion.

Egypt’s interim President visits Orthodox Church for the 1st time

Egypt’s interim President Adly Mansour on Sunday visited Cairo’s main Coptic Orthodox Cathedral to greet church leaders on Christmas, the first such visit to the church by an Egyptian leader.

A Presidential statement said that Mansour stressed during his visit the need for harmony between Muslims and coptics for the welfare of the homeland.

“This is the first time an Egyptian president visits the Papal Seat to congratulate the Christians on the occasion of Christmas,” the church said in a statement.