Orthodox Churches

Renovation of the Holy Monastery of John the Baptist on the banks of the Jordan

The Patriarchate of Jerusalem is pleased to undertake conservation and renovation works at the Holy Monastery of John the Baptist, semi-ruined during the 1967 war, which lies in the vicinity of the Lord’s Baptismal site in the Jordan river.

Subsidies for the project have been offered with the blessings of His Beatitude Theophilos, our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem, and within the extent of his powers, by the Hegoumen of Mount Sarantarion, Archimandrite Gerasimos.

New deacon ordained at Jerusalim Patriarchate

On the night of Friday to Saturday, the 3^rd to the 4^th/16^th to the 17^th of August 2013, during the Divine Liturgy at the All-Holy and Life-Giving Sepulcher of the Lord, Templar Monk Agapios Hadjipavlis was ordained deacon by the Grand Sacristan, His Eminence Isidoros, Archbishop of Hierapolis, having as participants Brothers of the Holy Sepulcher, including the Templar Fathers, acquaintances of the ordained and a crowd of faithful.

Russian Orthodox Church sends money to Patriarchate of Antioch to help people affected by armed conflict in Syria

The Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for Church Charity and Social Service transferred 1,320,407 $ to the bank account of the Patriarchate of Antioch in the beginning of August 2013. The money was collected at the Russian Orthodox churches with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia to help people affected by the military hostilities in Syria.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at Panaghia Soumela

On Thursday, August 15, 2013, His All-Holiness celebrated the great feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos at the historic monastery of Panaghia Soumela in Trabzon. This is the fourth consecutive year that His All-Holiness has led an annual pilgrimage to the historical monastery since its closure nine decades ago. The monastery was founded in 386 and functioned without interruption until 1923. Among those in attendance were Bishops Seraphim of Apollonias (from Australia) and Theodosios of Brovary (from Ukraine), Armenian Archbishop Aram Atesian, clergy of the Patriarchal Court and hundreds of pilgrims from around the world.

Bishop Irinej Extends Sympathy to Coptic Orthodox Christians

In a letter of 16 August 2013, His Grace Bishop Irinej of Australia and New Zealand extended his heartfelt, sincere prayers and the deepest sympathy of his clergy, monastics and faithful to Their Graces, Coptic Orthodox Bishops Suriel of Melbourne and Affiliated Regions and Daniel of Sydney and Affiliated Regions and to their faithful during this Holy Lent of the Virgin Mary, whose intercessions serve as a true source of consolation for those who now mourn.

Bishop Irinej wrote with utter dismay, relative to the tragic events, resulting in the loss of so many innocent lives and rampant destruction in Egypt on Wednesday, 14 August 2013. "Yet again," he noted, "frenzied violence prevails throughout Egypt, offered as a thinly veiled political solution in violation of the free will of the Egyptian people."

From the speech of His Beatitude John X in Saydnaya

From the speech of His Beatitude John X in Saydnaya, 25 August 2013

Beloved brothers and sisters: I come today to Saydnaya to meet bright faces dressed with the zeal of God and good souls dominated by the love of their fellow man and the love of the homeland. I come to Saydnaya which lies near to the Sanctuary of the Virgin Mary protected by the red mantle of St. George and under the shadowing wings of the Cherubim. I come to Saydnaya spoken of in the books of history, the chronicles of travelers and the report of miracles. I come to kneel before the Virgin of Saydnaya and ask her to visit us and infuse our souls with the splendor of her Son, so that our inner man might be transfigured as coals brightened with the love of God and the homelands. I come to this monastery to seek the prayers of the monks and nuns and the supplications of the visitors. I beg you to remember John X, who knew that the monastic prayers and the prayers of the faithful knock on the door of the Divine Mercy and pour forth the streams of Divine Clemency.