Orthodox Churches

The President of Georgia visited an Orthodox church in Paris

On February 17, 2019, Metropolitan Emmanuel of France celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Orthodox Church Saint Nino in Paris. It was attended by President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili, on the occasion of her official visit to France.

The eparchy of Saint Nino has been part of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and of the metropolis of France for ninety years. When welcoming and congratulating the president, Metropolitan Emmanuel pointed out that her father was one of the founders of the parish.
Salome Zurabishvili thanked the bishop and the parish for their warm welcome and their enthusiasm at the visit.

Source: Orthodoxie.com

Alexandrian Patriarchate in Congo-Brazzavile

On 15th February 2019 His Beatitude Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, accompanied by His Grace Theodoros Bishop of Babylonos, Abbot of the Holy Patriarchal Monastery of St George in Old Cairo, arrived in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of the Congo, as part of his official visit to the country and t the Local Church (15th – 19th February 2019).

Meeting of the Lord

Forty days after Christ was born He was presented to God in the Jerusalem Temple according to the Mosaic Law. At this time as well His mother Mary underwent the ritual purification and offered the sacrifices as prescribed in the Law. Thus, forty days after Christmas, on the second of February, the Church celebrates the feast of the presentation called the Meeting (or Presentation or Reception) of the Lord.

The meeting of Christ by the elder Simeon and the prophetess Anna (Lk 2.22–36) is the main event of the feast of Christ’s presentation in the Temple. It was “revealed to Simeon by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” (Lk 2.26) and, inspired by the same Spirit, he came to the Temple where he met the new-born Messiah, took Him in his arms and said the words which are now chanted each evening at the end of the Orthodox Vespers service:

IOCC Wine Tasting Event

This past weekend, four Orthodox Churches from Bergen County, NJ hosted a wine tasting to benefit IOCC (International Orthodox Christian Charities) in Bergenfield, NJ. Fr. Djokan from the Serbian Orthodox Church of St. John the Baptist in Paterson, along with the Greek Orthodox Church St. John the Theologian, the Holy Apostles OCA Church and the Antciohian Church St. Anthony’s, helped organize this event.

New women’s shelter opens in Kurgan Diocese of Russian Church

The Russian Orthodox Church opened its 59th women’s crisis center in the city of Kurgan on February 7. The opening ceremony was led by His Eminence Metropolitan Joseph of Kurgan and Belozerskoe under the banner of the diocesan social project “House of Mercy Center for the Protection of Family, Motherhood, and Childhood,” reports the diocesan website.

Bulgarian Orthodox Church calls for abortion ban, compulsory religion in schools, no sex education

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church’s governing body, the Holy Synod, has called for a complete rewrite of the government’s National Strategy for the Child 2019-2030, urging a ban on terminations of pregnancy, for religion to be a compulsory subject in schools, no sex education, The Sofia Globe reports.