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Moscow, May 4, Interfax - Head of the Russian Orthodox Church Expert Council on Church Art, Architecture and Restoration Works Archpriest Leonid Kalinin does not agree to remove mosaic with Stalin from the interior of the main Church of the Russian Armed Forces. "No one is interested how the Victory is depicted, everyone is interested whether there is Stalin or not. He will be there! He surely will! If they say to remove him, let them do it, but I won't give such orders. I don't have right and authority to tear up the page from the book of history,"...

Moscow, May 4, Interfax - Spokesman of the Russian Orthodox Church Vladimir Legoyda believes that Stalin's depiction should not be placed in the main church of the Russian Armed Forces. On air Vera radio, he noted that the practice of depicting secular people in church had always existed, but Stalin's figure had a very definite symbolism. "Many troubles in lives of our people were connected with his name and it can't be ruled out," the church official explained. Not definitely evaluating Stalin's personality from the historic point of view, Legoyda expressed his personal viewpoint, saying that Stalin should not be...

The Greek Government Counsellor on the coronavirus pandemic, Ilias Mosialos, urged people to avoid receiving Holy Communion until a safe vaccine is discovered. Despite the objections of the Hierarchy, which declares that the Holy Communion is a non-negotiable matter, when Ilias Mosialos was asked about the Holy Communion during an interview, he pointed out: “In my opinion, we should avoid receiving it (the Holy Communion), until we have a safe vaccine. It would be useful to consider whether it is possible to receive it in a different and safer way.” “I would like to emphasise that Archbishop Elpidophoros of America...

The special committee decided the removal of the mosaic with Vladimir Putin from the Church of the Russian Armed Forces at the instigation of the President of Russia himself. Bishop Stefan of Klin stated to Russian media that the committee responsible for the interior decoration of the church “decided to remove the mosaic with the image of the Russian president, which was his wish.” The Bishop also pointed out that the mosaic was still under construction and that it was very likely that its composition would change. It is recalled that a few days ago it became known that the...

Churches in Greece and Cyprus reopened yesterday, May 4, for Orthodox faithful to offer prayers, light candles, and venerate icons and holy relics. The faithful will be able to return to the Divine services on May 17 in Greece and June 1 in Cyprus. Numerous faithful began visiting the churches from early in the morning in Greece, reports the Orthodoxia News Agency. The Church has pledged that all health precautions, including social distancing, masks, gloves, and the disinfection of churches will be followed. Cathedrals will remain open after services are celebrated in order to properly ventilate. In cathedrals, the ratio...

The chairman of the Religious and Foundation Employees’ Union (Diyanet Bir-Sen), Hasan Türüt, has called on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to allow a Muslim prayer to be performed in Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, following the lifting of the ban due to the coronavirus pandemic. According to Turkish media reports, Türüt said that the first Friday after the coronavirus pandemic the Muslim prayer should be performed in Hagia Sophia, as Mehmed the Conqueror did on the first Friday after the Fall of Constantinople. “Hagia Sophia is the means to bring about the resurrection of the world. We must all show...

Why put so much emphasis on people gathering in worship once a week, when there are far more people crowding in public transport, pharmacies, and grocery stores?According to the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Georgia, a ban on Church attendance is an unjustified offense against God, and those who reject the Church’s Communion thereby reject Christ Himself. “Communion from one chalice is the highest confirmation of the love and unity of the flock with Christ, and those who refuse this, refuse the Savior . . . "The Georgian Patriarchate issued a strong statement, both reiterating its call for...

The faithful of the Orthodox Church of Greece will be able to return to the Divine services beginning May 17, following the coronavirus lockdown measures regarding places of worship that have been in place in Greece since March 19. The churches will also open two weeks earlier, on May 4, for parishioners to visit for individual prayers, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced yesterday, reports the Orthodoxia News Agency. While the churches will open, the participation of the faithful in the Divine Liturgy will still be subject to strict rules to be agreed upon by the Holy Synod and the scientific...

Following a police investigation, 20 people, including a priest, will be charged with breaking the lockdown decree for allegedly attending a Church service in Erimi in the southwestern Limassol District on St. George’s Day, April 23. Police were tipped off that a service was being held at the Church of St. George on its patronal feast day and arrived to find 16 cars parked outside, reports in-cyprus. However, when the police entered the church, they found only the priest and two members of the public, who were charged that day. Tracing the license plates on the cars outside the church,...

“I look forward to a return not only to normalcy but also to ecclesiasticalism,” said Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos, speaking on SKAI TV, ahead of the prime minister’s announcements about the gradual lifting of restrictions imposed due to the conoravirus. “Since the problem is overcrowding, we will take all the necessary measures, we will do what they have instructed us to do. I don’t know if they have other reasons,” the Metropolitan of Nafpaktos stressed. He commented on the statements made by the government spokesman that the churches would be opened gradually and that the request expressed in the letter...

Thomas Sunday was celebrated in a unique way by the Russian Boxing Federation yesterday, as the group launched a giant banner icon of Christ into sky over the city of Serpukhov, near Moscow. The launch was meant as a show of support to fans during the coronavirus pandemic, reports sportmk.ru. This is the second such event from the Russian boxers. A giant icon of Christ was also launched into the air last week in Kamensk-Uralsk. The icon, with an area of several dozens of square meters, set off with the help of a hot air balloon.

Moscow, April 27, Interfax - Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has ordered the clergy to strictly abide by Covid-19 prevention requirements, adding that otherwise clerics will have to be held accountable for negative consequences. "Unfortunately, not everyone took this threat seriously at the initial stages of the spread of the infection, ignoring warnings from doctors and church authorities. This led to a large number of cases in individual monasteries and some churches. By his special order, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia stated that clerics should be held to account for failure to abide by...

Having endured Holy Week, Pascha, and Bright Week with closed churches, the hierarchs of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece and of the Eparchial Holy Synod of Crete are calling on the Greek state to reopen the holy sites and allow the faithful to return to the Divine services. Although Crete is a Greek island, the Church there falls under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which has about 50 dioceses throughout Greece. Following a vote from the metropolitans of the Greek Holy Synod, Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens addressed a letter to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis...

Moscow, April 27, Interfax - The Moscow Patriarchate has again extended a ban on worshippers visiting churches in Moscow and the Moscow Region. According to earlier reports, such a ban was initially imposed for the period of the Holy Week and Orthodox Easter as part of measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus infection. The measure was then extended through April 28, when Orthodox believers observe the Day of Remembrance for their deceased loved ones. The patriarch's order saying that clerics may be held to account for violations of measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 was published on...

The Experts’ Council for Church Art, Architecture and Restoration of the Russian Orthodox Church considers that the leaders of the state and Joseph Stalin will be included in the mosaics that will decorate the walls of the church dedicated to the Armed Forces of Russia. The statement was made by the Chair of the experts’ council, Archpriest Leonid Kalinin, in the TASS Russian News Agency. According to Leonid Kalinin, Joseph Stalin as the supreme military commander of the Soviet army in the period 1941-1945 will be included in the mosaic entitled “The Victory Parade,” which was created based on photographs....

St. Petersburg, April 22, Interfax - A court in St. Petersburg has fined Artyom Skripkin 10,000 rubles after finding him guilty of staging a holy procession down the central Nevsky Avenue. On April 19, the Easter day, between 12:18 p.m. and 12:30 p.m., Skripkin, in breach of the coronavirus-related ban on public gatherings, exhorted citizens "for participation in a mass simultaneous gathering and movement at a public place," the joint press service for the city courts said. The priest and other at least 15 participants moved down from number 2 in Dumskaya Street towards number 35 in Nevsky Avenue, thereby...

Like many, I was more than a little surprised to see an American Orthodox archbishop of prominence suggest that inter-communion is a good idea—i.e. that an Orthodox priest should give Holy Communion to a non-Orthodox person. Admittedly he was not suggesting indiscriminate inter-communion and giving the Eucharist to anyone showing up from off the street. The situation he envisioned was that of inter-marriage, wherein an Orthodox was married to a non-Orthodox. He thought it was inconsistent to allow the couple to share one sacrament (i.e. Matrimony) and not the other (i.e. the Eucharist). Since, he reasoned, they were one flesh...

Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East​​ ​ Seven Years Since the Kidnapping of the Bishops of Aleppo​ Beloved Brethren and Spiritual Children Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Brothers, we address you with the Pascha greeting, sharing your prayers in your home corners and bending with you the knees of the heart before Christ, who was crucified for our sake, who resurrected from the dead and made us resurrect by His divine Light, wiping away from souls the dust of bitter times and the ashes of desolation...

Easter, which is usually celebrated with brilliance, crowds and leaping joy in the Orthodox world for a full 40 days, looked very different this year amid the global pandemic. (Contrast this year's photos with the spectacular photo essay from Easter in Russia in 2018).The policies regarding church attendance vary from country to country and from city to city, but even in places where attendance is allowed, it is strictly regulated. In Russia, many cities closed the churches to the public, with only the clergy permitted to participate in the service, while others allowed the faithful to attend as long as...

Moscow, April 16, Interfax - The main church of the Russian Armed Forces can become a place where new conscripts will undergo alternative civil service, Alexander Kanshin, deputy chairman of the Russian Defense Ministry's Public Council, said. "Yes, such a possibility is considered. It is understood that people will be able to undergo alternative civil service in a Defense Ministry structure, in the spiritual-educational center of the main church of the Armed Forces. This initiative is undoubtedly supported by members of the Russian Defense Ministry's Public Council," Kanshin told Interfax on Thursday, commenting on the media reports stating that Russian...