Orthodox Churches

Cyprus state and Church gift land to Georgian Church for massive monastery complex

The government of Cyprus and the Church under the headship of His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostomos have made the joint and unprecedented decision to gift a large plot of land to the Georgian Orthodox Church for use for a large-scale monastery complex, reports Agenda.ge.

According to the Georgian news site, the 15,000-sq.-yd. complex in Agia Marina in central Cyprus will be the largest monastic complex of the Georgian Church anywhere in Europe.

The feast of St. Stephen the Archdeacon celebrated at the Patriarchate

The commemoration of St. Stephen the Archdeacon and First Martyr was celebrated by the Patriarchate at the place of his stoning in Gethsemane valley, south-west of the Theotokos’ Tomb, on Tuesday December 27, 2017/ January 9, 2018.

Met. Onuphry of Kiev visits, brings Christmas gifts to sick and orphaned children at monastery

After celebrating the Divine Liturgy yesterday at the Holy Ascension Monastery in Banchensk in southwestern Ukraine, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine visited the children of the monastery’s medical rehabilitation center “Faith, Hope, and Love” and orphanage in the village of Molitsa, reports the site of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Christmas Feast in Jerusalem

The Feast of Christ’s Nativity was celebrated by the Patriarchate according to the tradition and order at the Basilica of the Nativity and the God-receiving Cave in the town of Bethlehem, on Sunday December 25, 2017/ January 7, 2018.

Visit of His Beatitude Patriarch Neophyte of Bulgaria

On Sunday, January 7, 2018, His All-Holiness received His Beatitude Patriarch Neophyte of Bulgaria together with the members of his entourage—various metropolitans and clergy of the Church of Bulgaria—at the Ecumenical Patriarchate, during His Beatitude’s visit for the reopening of the newly renovated Church of St. Stephen in the Phanar District.

The Feast of Theophany at the Phanar

On Saturday, January 6, 2018, His All-Holiness celebrated the Divine Liturgy together with members of the Holy and Sacred Synod on the occasion of the Feast of Theophany at the Patriarchal Church of St. George. Among the numerous faithful in attendance were His Excellency John Amanatidis, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Hellenic Republic, His Excellency Evangelos Sekeris, Consul General of the Hellenic Republic to Istanbul, and the Honorable Oleksandr Gaman, Consul General of Ukraine to Istanbul. Following the Divine Liturgy, the Ecumenical Patriarch led the traditional blessing of the waters and the throwing of the cross into the Golden Horn.