News

Photo: Orthodox Holy Week and Paschal Snaps Worldwide – 2012

Photo 1/ Jerusalem: Worshipers hold candles as they take part in the Christian Orthodox Holy Fire ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Old city April 14, 2012.

Photo 2/ Orthodox Christian worshippers take part in the Holy Fire ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City at midnight on April 15, 2012.

Photo 3/ Palestine: Palestinian Christian girls take part in the Holy Fire procession during Orthodox Easter holiday in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Saturday, April 14, 2012.

Photo 4/ Constantinople: His All-Holiness blesses the beginning of the process of sanctification of the Holy Myron in a special office on 9th April 2012.

President Marzouki visits Russian Orthodox Church and denounces recent attacks

On Saturday, the interim president of the Republic, Moncef Marzouki, visited the Russian Orthodox Church on Avenue Mohamad V in the capital. "Tunisia denounces the recent attacks against the church," the president declared to the faithful who were  present at the place of worship to celebrate the feast of Easter.

Historic Greek Orphanage to Become Environmental Center Under Patriarch Bartholomew

The Büyükada Greek Orphanage of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate is set to become an international environmental foundation, according to a recent article of the Turkish newspaper todayszaman.com.

A ruling by the European Court of Human Rights in June 2010 stated that the Turkish government should re-register the historic Orthodox orphanage on Büyükada to the İstanbul-based Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarchate. Following the ECtHR ruling, the orphanage will probably be turned into a global environmental center, according to comments made by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I to the Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

Holy Fire Descends upon Jesus' Tomb in Jerusalem

Thousands of Orthodox Christians filled Jerusalem's ancient Church of the Holy Sepulchre and spilled out into the narrow streets on Saturday for the "Holy Fire" ceremony on the eve of Orthodox Easter, reports AFP.

Believers hold that the fire is miraculously sent from heaven to ignite candles held by the Greek Orthodox patriarch in an annual rite dating back to the 4th century that symbolises the resurrection of Jesus.

Israeli public radio said around 10,000 faithful attended this year's ceremony, fewer than in recent years, as police were deployed around the church and in the streets of the surrounding Old City to keep the jubilation from getting out of hand.

Commission on World Mission and Evangelism Meets in Manila

His Grace Bishop Irinej of the Metropolitanate of Australia and New Zealand, as appointed by the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, joined other Orthodox Church delegates with more than 200 participants from around the globe, for an event of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) in Manila, the Philippines. Its aim is to rethink, in terms of Trinitarian Theology, mission and evangelism, developing a draft of the WCC statement on mission and evangelism that succeeds a statement of thirty years ago.

NSW Premier’s Multicultural Harmony Dinner

NSW Premier and Minister for Western Sydney, Barry O'Farrell, has unveiled the NSW Government's strategy for the advancement of multiculturalism during the inaugural Premier's Harmony Dinner on 28 March 2012.

Speaking to 600 community guests, Mr. O'Farrell launched the Multicultural Advantage Action Plan with the Minster for Citizenship and Communities, Victor Dominello.