Orthodox Churches

Russian Church vows to raise funds for crisis-hit Greece

All Orthodox churches in Russia will raise funds to help Greece mitigate the social impact of the euro zone crisis, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia announced on Thursday.

"We are currently establishing relations between our church charitable organizations and the Church of Ellada so that the Russian Church can take part in this good work of helping the needy in Greece," the Patriarch said at a meeting with the leader of the New Democracy party of Greece, Antonis Samaras, in Moscow on Thursday.

The Relics of St Innocent of Irkutsk will be brought to Australia on the feast of the new martyrs and confessors of russia

With the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York and His Eminence Metropolitan Vadim of Irkutsk and Angara, the relics of St Innocent of Irkutsk will be brought to SS Peter and Paul Cathedral in Sydney on February 5, 2012, the feast day of the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia. The reliquary will be brought by Protopriest Evgeny Startsev and other clergymen of the Moscow Patriarchate.

The overwhelming majority of the flock of the Diocese of Australia and New Zealand of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia are from Harbin, Shanghai, Zabaikal and Trekhrechie and their descendants. St Innocent was the first bishop of the Russian Church assigned to China. In 1721, he was consecrated bishop of Pereyaslavl and assigned Head of the Chinese Ecclesiastical Mission, which was intended to tend to the descendants of the Cossacks taken prisoner by the Chinese who retained their Orthodox faith, the so-called Albazin Christians.

Celebration of the feast day of Three Holy Hierarchs on Cyprus

Celebration of the feast day of Three Holy Hierarchs on Cyprus

On Monday, January 30, 2012, on the feast day of Three Holy Hierarchs, the Archbishopric of Cyprus organized a celebration at the hall of the foundation of Archbishiop Makarios III. 

His Grace Bishop Dr Irinej of Backa participated in the celebration, who held a lecture on a very actual and significant theme The Essence of Christian Education.

A first: Great blessing of the waters in the River Ill, Strasbourg

Orthodox believers sanctified the Ill River in Strasbourg.

"We conducted the Great Blessing of the waters later than church canons teach us, as circumstances allowed. Nevertheless, it's important for us to bless water at the beginning of the year, for thus we recall God's blessing on all Lord's creatures," Metropolitan Emmanuel of France (the Constantinople Patriarchate) said as he headed a procession with cross to the river and its consecration.

"Law of God" in the Thai language are published in Thailand

The Law of God by archpriest Seraphim Slobodskoy, the fundamental book containing 890 pages of the basis truths of the Orthodox Christian faith, has been published in Thailand in the Thai language.

The website of the Orthodox Christian Church in Thailand reports that translation and publication of the book began with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. He visited Thailand in 2001 as chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations and noted the absence of fundamental catechetical materials in Thai.

The Tomsk diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church and Archbishop Rostislav of Tomsk and Asinov provided material support. USD 15,000 has been provided for this endeavour during the last two years.

Patriarch Kirill’s interview to Serbian newspaper ‘Evening News’

On January 29, 2012, the Serbian newspaper ‘Evening News’ published an interview of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

Your Holiness, as you know, Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija have recently appealed to President Medvedev to grant them Russian citizenship, and his answer is already known. The Serbs appealed to you as well, and their desire was dictated by despair and helplessness in the situation in which they have been caught. The recent initiatives of Serbs in Kosovo for Russian citizenship have given a powerful signal that should be heard not only in Russia but throughout Europe.