Orthodox Churches

Guatemalan jungle church attracting non-orthodox neighbors

The building of a new church structure in the jungles of Guatemala is well underway and drawing the attention and patronage of even non-Orthodox neighbors, reports Fr. John Chakos, a missionary for the Orthodox Church in Guatemala, on the blog “The Word From Guatemala.”

Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk continues his pilgrimage to Mount Athos

On 12 December 2017, in continuation of his visit to Mount Athos, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, officiated at the Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral of the Holy Annunciation of the Vatopedi Monastery, in which he had arrived the day before with a group of pilgrims. Concelebrating with the archpastor were Rev. Dimitry Ageyev, cleric of the Moscow Church of ‘Joy of All Who Sorrow’ Icon of the Mother of God; Rev. Anatoly Churyakov, DECR staff member; and the ordained brethren of the abode. The service was followed by a brotherly repast and the Rite of the Lifting of the Panagia.

Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk begins his pilgrimage to Mount Athos

On 11 December 2017, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, arrived on Mount Athos.

First Orthodox church on Ko Pha-ngan Island, Thailand consecrated

Bishop Anthony of Zvenigorod, in Thailand on an archpastoral visit, consecrated on Sunday the first Orthodox church on the island of Ko Pha-ngan, in the Gulf of Thailand in the south of the kingdom, Russian Orthodox representative in Thailand Archimandrite Oleg (Cherepanin) reported to TASS.

The one-domed Church of St. Seraphim of Sarov was built over the past year and a half with funding from the faithful. The island is home to about 400 members of the Russian-speaking diaspora. In tourist season, typically during the winter months, the number rises to 2,000-2,500 people.

Ancient Georgian Gospel included in UNESCO document list

The international UNESCO “Memory of the World” register has published a new world heritage list for 2017, which includes an ancient Georgian manuscript of the Gospel, reports News-Georgia.

Memory of the world is a program for the protection of the world documentary heritage, created in 1992. The decision to include the Georgian manuscript among the 78 documents on the new list was made at the committee meeting in Paris in October.

2017 Pan Orthodox Clergy retreat

The Annual Pan-Orthodox Clergy Retreat was organized this year by the St. Sebatian Orthodox Press, a Ministry of the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Western America, with the blessings of the Hierarchs of the California Orthodox jurisdictions of California: Metropolitan Gerasimos (Greek), Metropolitan Joseph (Antiochian), Archbishop Kyrill (ROCOR), Bishop Maxim (Serbian), and Archbishop Benjamin (OCA) and was held on November 9 & 10, 2017 at the Mercy Center in Burlingame, California.