First pastoral visit of Patriarch of Alexandria to Royal Morocco
26. March 2015 - 13:33
On Saturday 21st march 2015, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa arrived in Morocco for his first pastoral visit, accompanied by the Very Reverend Archimandrite Theodoros Dridakis, Mega Ecclesiarch of the Throne. At the “Mohamed V” airport in Casablanca, His Beatitude was officially welcomed by the local Metropolitan Alexios of Carthage, their Excellencies the Ambassadors of Greece Mr. Platon Alexios Hatzimihalis and of Egypt Mr. Ahmed Gamal el Din, Attachés of the Greek Embassy in Rabat, the Chairman of the Hellenic Community in Morocco Mr. Ioannis Pistikos and the Clergy.
Metropolitan Filaret awarded St. Alexis Order First Class
24. March 2015 - 12:24
Metropolitan Filaret, the Honorary Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus, was awarded the Order of St. Alexis, the Metropolitan of Moscow, First Class, of the Russian Orthodox Church.
On behalf of Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill the order was presented to the Honorary Exarch by Metropolitan Pavel of Minsk and Zaslavl during the gala evening on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Metropolitan Filaret.
DECR hosts first meeting of Commission for International Cooperation of the Council for Cooperation with Religious Organizations under the President of Russian Federation
24. March 2015 - 11:36
On 19 March 2015, the first meeting of the Commission for International Cooperation of the Council for Cooperation with Religious Organizations under the President of the Russian Federation took place at the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate. The Commission was established at the Council’s meeting on 11 December 2014.
Russian writer Valentin Rasputin Laid to Rest
23. March 2015 - 15:37
On March 18, 2015 at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow, the legendary writer Valentin Rasputin was laid to final rest.
His Holiness Kirill – Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia led the funeral service along with other prelates. Large number of people came to pay their final respect for the legendary author.
In Memoriam: Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko (1939-2015)
19. March 2015 - 10:10
Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko, Dean Emeritus of Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, Crestwood, NY, and noted Orthodox Christian priest, theologian, preacher, and speaker, fell asleep in the Lord on the afternoon of March 18, 2015.
Father Thomas was the beloved husband of Matushka Anne [Schmemann] Hopko. They were married on June 9, 1963. Together, Father Thomas and Anne are the parents of five children, sixteen grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.
Thomas John Hopko was born in Endicott, NY, on March 28, 1939, the third child and only son of John J. Hopko and Anna [Zapotocky] Hopko. He was baptized and raised in Saint Mary’s Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church and educated in Endicott public schools, graduating from Union-Endicott High School in 1956.
