Serbian Patriarch Irinej attends marking of University of Belgrade Day

His Holiness Irinej, Serbian Patriarch has attended today the formal academy on the occasion of the Day of the University in Belgrade.

Orthodox leaders assess Christian presence in the Middle East

At the invitation of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, leaders from five historic centres of Christianity in the eastern Mediterranean region met in early September to discuss matters of regional and global concern. In addition to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Orthodox churches of Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem and Cyprus were represented. Chief among issues under discussion were the path toward peace in the Middle East and the situation of minority Christian communities during a time of turmoil. Other important topics included the preservation of the earth’s endangered eco-systems and possibilities for fostering inter-religious dialogue.

DECR chairman meets with Serbian delegation

On 8 September 2011, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations (DECR), met with a Serbian delegation that has arrived for consultations on the project of decoration of the Cathedral of St. Sava in Belgrade.

Patron Saint's Day of the church of St. Alexander Nevsky in Belgrade

His Holiness Irinej, Serbian Patriarch served on the occasion of the church slava the Hierarchal Divine Liturgy in the Belgrade church of St. Alexander Nevsky.

Floods devastate upstate NY, northeastern PA

As widely reported by the media, massive floods have devastated upstate New York and northeastern Pennsylvania, where many parishes of the Orthodox Church in America are located. In addition to parishes in Binghamton, NY and along the NY-PA border, OCA parishes dot “the Valley,” from Uniondale, Dundaff, and Simpson in the north to Hazleton and McAdoo in the south.  The region traditionally has had one of the largest concentrations of Orthodox Christian parishes in the US.

The region has been declared a disaster zone.

Source: www.oca.org

Eternal Memory

On September 11, 2001, life was forever changed for Americans when terrorists plowed two planes into the World Trade Center, a third into the Pentagon, and downed another in a rural Pennsylvania field. Over 3000 innocent people lost their lives. In New York, terror rained from the sky, as each plane’s impact produced infernos of flame and ash and smoke. The tiny Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church which stood in the shadow of the World Trade Center’s twin towers was the only house of worship destroyed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.