Orthodox Churches

The Feast of the Translation of the Relics of Hosios Savvas the Consecrated

On Saturday the 12^th/26^th of October 2013, the feast of the translation of the relics of our hosios Father, Savvas the Consecrated, was celebrated at the Holy Monastery founded by him in the desert of Judea.

Orthodox Bishop allowed to visit northern Cyprus in exchange for a Mufti's visit to the south of the island

A Bishop of the Church of Cyprus has been allowed to venerate Relics and Shrines in that part of his Diocese which is situated in the area of the island, occupied by Turks. In 1974 Turkey encroached upon the territory of Cyprus and occupied 40 percent of the island.

On October 16, Bishop Christopher of Karpasia, who for over 18 months had been refused permission to visit the northern part of Cyprus by the Turkish authorities, managed to visit St. Andrew's Monastery in the Karpass Peninsula in north-eastern Cyprus.

New Orthodox church in Hamburg

On October 22, with the blessing of His Eminence Archbishop Theophan of Berlin and Germany in Hamburg a service for the laying of a foundation stone of a new Church was performed.

The service was celebrated by Archpriest Sergy Baburin with Priest Dionysius Idowein concelebrating. The Hamburg community is starting an Orthodox cemetery which will become a park, adorned with traditional Russian wooden architecture, reports the website of the Diocese of Berlin and Germany.

Reliquary with portion of relics of Saint John Of Shanghai to be brought to Yoshkar-ola

Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco was canonized relatively recently, on July 2, 1994. But in less than 20 years hundreds of people were healed from different diseases by his holy relics. Every request found its response through a prayer to the Holy Hierarch. Even in his lifetime the Holy Hierarch excelled in special spiritual gifts from God: clairvoyance, the ability to heal people, to see a person's secret need. After his repose, great miracles have been occuring from his relics, witnessed by our contemporaries.

As part of the international youth educational program, "Spiritual link", a reliquary with a portion of the saint's relics will be brought to Yoshkar-Ola (the capital of republic of Mari El in Russia), reports the website of the Diocese of Yoshkar-Ola.

Secretariat of Inter-Parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy visits Patriarchate

On the afternoon of Saturday the 6^th/19^th of October 2013, the Secretariat of the Inter-parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy visited the Patriarchate.

The delegation, consisting of approximately thirty-five members, was received by His Beatitude Theophilos in the presence of Fathers of the Holy Sepulcher.

Patriarch of Alexandria in a brief visit to Holy Metropolis of Johannesburg

 His Beatitude Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa paid a brief visit to the Holy Metropolis of Johannesburg and Pretoria from 11th to 15th October 2013.