Georgian Orthodox Church calls for nonuse of force against Abkhazia, South Ossetia

Catholicos-Patriarch of all Georgia Ilia II has called for a resolution of the problems between Georgia, Abkhaz and South Ossetia solely through a peaceful dialogue."The Georgian Orthodox Church has always tried and will continue to try to restore confidence between Georgians, Abkhazians and South Ossetians, so that their co-habitation in a single legal and territorial space is possible," Ilia II said in an address delivered at the St. Trinity Cathedral.

Austria reminds Ankara of the need for full religious freedom

The Austrian foreign minister, Ursula Plassnik, used the opportunity of a visit to Turkey to pay homage to ecumenical patriarch Bartholomew I, and to express her support for him: the patriarch, she maintained, contributes tirelessly, both personally and through his office, to the promotion of interreligious dialogue, to the reinforcement of better understanding among human beings, and in his effort to build a world where everyone can live without fear, practice his religion freely, or live without any religious creed. "I think this is how the conception of religious freedom should be interpreted, as it must be guaranteed in the social life of the EU. Religious freedom is one of the presuppositions for the whole of Europe's values and ideals. It is part of the negotiations for countries asking to enter [the European Union]".

Russia: Fire extinguished at tsar family burial site

The fire has been extinguished in the Ganina Yama area in Yekaterinburg, where the remains of the family of Russia's last tsar Nicholas II were found. The area caught fire on Wednesday morning. The churches located on the territory of the near-by monastery were not damaged. Firefighters are currently clearing the debris, a spokesman for the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry's department for the Sverdlovsk region told Interfax.

Orthodox Christians hail 'holy fire' of Easter in Jerusalem

Thousands of Orthodox Christians converged on Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Saturday to witness what they believe is the miraculous appearance of "holy fire" on the eve of Orthodox Easter.

The Old City was jammed with pilgrims from the Eastern Orthodox faiths including Greeks, Copts, Russians and Assyrians, seeking to reach the church, one of Christianity's holiest sites.

Greek Orthodox Church recovering from crisis

Secretive real estate deals, hostility to priests, fist fights over Christ's tomb, a power struggle between patriarchs - one of the oldest churches in the Holy Land is struggling to get through a moral and financial crisis, its leader says.

In a rare interview with The Associated Press, Patriarch Theofilos III says his Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem is in "the position of an acrobat," faced by challenges on all sides.

Easter - Pascha

Pascha (Greek: Πάσχα), also called Easter, is the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord. Pascha is a transliteration of the Greek word, which is itself a transliteration of the Hebrew pesach, both words meaning Passover. (A minority of English-speaking Orthodox prefer the English word 'Pasch.')

Pascha normally falls either one or five weeks later than the feast as observed by Christians who follow the Gregorian calendar. However, occasionally the two observances coincide, and some years they can be two, four, or six weeks apart (but never three). The reason for the difference is that the older Julian Calendar uses a different paschalion, the formula for calculating the date of Pascha. This formula was determined by the First Ecumenical Council.