— by Tatyana Karpekina of The Voice of Russia The 14th of March is Orthodox Book Day in Russia. It was established at the initiative of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia in 2009 in memory of an important historical event. On this day in 1564 the first printed book “The Apostle” came out

MOSCOW, Interfax — It is wrong for a Christian Church to be a political power, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. "The Church must have no political means of exercising an influence on those in authority," Patriarch Kirill said in answering letters from televiewers in the Pastor's World program on Pervyi Canal TV. The Church

MOSCOW, Interfax - The ceremony of consecration of the Holy Assumption Monastery and its civil opening was held in the Ratchaburi province, Thailand. The monastery and its church were consecrated by the Russian Orthodox Church representative in Thailand Archimandrite Oleg (Cherepanin). In attendance were Orthodox priests, the officials of the Russian embassy, Thai authorities, Protestant

The New York Times reports: MOSCOW — Despite criticism that it will revisit yet more thorny tangles from Russia’s past, Parliament has passed a law to restore to religious organizations property seized by the state in Soviet times. To leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church, the State Duma’s passage of the law last Friday was a

By Steve Hayes in Johannesberg, South Africa The enthronement of His Eminence Damaskinos, the new Archbishop of Johannesburg and Pretoria took place in the Cathedral of St Constantine and St Helen in Johannesburg this morning. Most of the Orthodox Churches in Johannesburg were closed, and so there was a large congregation, with a couple of

The last patriarch? Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is the 270th patriarch of Constantinople and is the leader of the Greek Orthodox Church, but with Turkey's once-flourishing Greek

The word passionate takes on a different meaning when listening to Fr Themis. Listen to him explain about poverty and the money economy and you wonder what he would have been if he hadn't chosen to become a missionary. Listen to him talk about Africa and you realise that, for Fr Themi, injustice is the

Salawe was Turkana. A tall, thin and wiry man, dressed in a traditional colorful cloth that draped over his shoulder, he held an aura of authority and power. He was strong, in his sixties, and not only the leader of the remote Africa desert village, but also its Shaman. His influence was evident and seen

Chukotka: Five thousand people, six villages scattered throughout the vast territory. No plants, only one road that does not take you very far anyway – it only connects two villages of the area. To get to the main land one needs a plane or a helicopter. No one was waiting for us in Lavrentiya, no

On Saturday, November 7, at San Francisco's Joy of All Who Sorrow Cathedral, Father Seraphim Bell was elevated to the rank of Archpriest.