News

Church accommodating 700 faithful to open in Qatar by end of year

A pre-Paschal charity fair was held in Doha recently to raise funds towards the construction of a church that will accommodate 700 Orthodox faithful in the capital city of Qatar. Construction on the church, which is under the jurisdiction of the Jerusalem Patriarchate, should be finished by the end of the year, reports RIA-Novosti.

The 21 Decapitated Copts – A German author on the importance of the Church of Martyrs for the West

A book by the German author Martin Mosebach (Frankfurt) is widely discussed in Germany. It was published recently and is titled “Die 21 – Eine Reise ins Land der koptischen Märtyrer, Reinbek: Rowohlt 2018” (The 21 – A Journey into the Land of Coptic Martyrs”). Mosebach writes about the families of those who were beheaded by the Islamic state.

Record Few Children Baptized in Sweden Due to ‘Demographic Change’

The drop in the number of baptisms is seen as part of the overall trend of Swedes leaving the church; immigration hasn’t reversed this trend, as most hail from non-Christian countries.

Almost 50,000 newborns were baptized in the Church of Sweden in 2017, which corresponds to a record low 42 percent, Swedish Radio reported. One of the reasons is that more parents come from abroad and lack any connection with the Church of Sweden.

Saint John Chrysostom: Liturgical Ethos and Modernity

Bishop Dr. Jovan (Puric)

Modernity confronts us with many dilemmas. Man must answer challenges, and not only those for which his teachers in his educational-upbringing process prepared him, but also totally new and different problems that life places before us. And it has always been so. Still, sociologists, pedagogues and culturologists generally agree that today’s world is changing at a significantly faster pace than before. The technological progress and social innovations of the 20th century have transformed the world much faster than, for instance, the entire process of technological development during medieval times. This tempo of development has continued to this day.

Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II Visits Catholicose-Patriarch Karekin II of Armenia

From March 6 to 10, 2018, His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II made a private visit to His brother in Christ His Holiness Catholicose Karekin II, Catholicose-Patriarch of All Armenians, in Etchmiadzin – Armenia.

Persecuted Christians and a dying church in Eritrea

If you ask people, “Where is Eritrea?” most would have no idea. As a tiny Eastern African country the size of Pennsylvania, with a population a little over 5 million people, it does not attract much attention. However, it should. The Christian population of Eritrea is being persecuted — their recognized leaders have been removed and the communities are living under strict government regulations that restrict their freedoms. Eritrea is a country situated in the ‘Horn of Africa’, bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti the southeast. The nation is dominated by two major religions, Christianity and Islam. Estimates indicate that 50% to 64% of the population is Christian.