News

Mountain is probable to bear name of Orthodox saint first time in Russia

The State Council of Komi conveyed Russian government its findings on the question of naming a Subpolar Ural peak "Mount of St. Stephan of Perm." The peak is located at a crossroads of touristic routes. If federal authorities back up this initiative, it will be the first Russian mountain named after an Orthodox saint, as the Pravoslaviye na Severnoy Zemle website has reported on Wednesday.

Orthodoxy in Cyprus

For many in Cyprus, they know Orthodoxy has been there since before AD 100. What they have not seen is an English-speaking Orthodox parish on Cyprian soil. Fr. Joseph Coleman has changed all that. A convert to the faith from Texas, Fr. Coleman is a native born American without any Greek heritage. He, like many others, came to the Orthodox Church by attending a liturgy and then reading, studying and praying. After being a deacon for five years, he was ordained the the Holy Priesthood two years ago.

Russian priest and father of 18 children decorated with Orthodox order

Dean of Orthodox churches in Rostov-on-Don Archpriest Ioann Osyak is decorated with the order of Sts Peter and Fevronia of Murom, heavenly protectors of family. The 18th child has been recently born to his family. Now he has got ten daughters and eight sons, the Express-Gazeta has reported on Tuesday.

New Secretary General of World Council of Churches

Lutheran pastor from Norway, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit was elected 7th general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC).

Tveit has been in the past seven years the general secretary of the Church of Norway Council on Ecumenical and International Relations. Otherwise, he was a parish priest in Haram and an army chaiplan.

Protests about new film about history of Acropolis

Greece'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.

Turkish PM promises reform to religious minorities

Prime 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.