| Accept The site uses cookies to help show you the most up-to-date information. By continuing to use the site, you consent to the use of your Metadata and cookies. Cookie policy Metochion of the Russian Church in Belgrade celebrates 15th anniversary of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill’s enthronement DECR Communication Service, 06.02.2024. On Sunday, February 4, the 15 th anniversary of the enthronement of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus " , which took place on February 1, was celebrated at the Church of the Holy Trinity of the Metochion of the Russian Orthodox Church in Belgrade. With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia, officiating at the Divine Liturgy was his vicar, Bishop Dositej of Lipljan. Concelebrating with Bishop Dositej were archpriest Vitaly Tarasjev, rector of the metochion of the Russian Church in the capital of Serbia; archimandrite Nektarije, secretary of the Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church and rector of St. Mark’s church in Belgrade; archpriest Djordje Stanisavljevi, head of the Patriarch’s office; and clerics of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Present at the church were Mr. Gavrilo Grban of the Office for Religious Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, representatives of the administration of the Palilula municipality of Belgrade, and Mr. Nenad Popovi, president of the Serbian People " s Party. In his address after the service, archpriest Vitaly Tarasjev told the audience about His Holiness Patriarch Kirill’s work done for spiritual renewal of the Russian people after decades of state atheism. He thanked Bishop Dositej for celebration of the Liturgy and presented him with a panagia for prayerful memory. On behalf of His Holiness Patriarch Porfirje, Bishop Dositej conveyed gratitude and congratulations to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and made a pointed reference to the role he played in the process of spiritual revival, saying: “Some fourteen new churches are consecrated in Russia every day... Indeed, God’s mercy is bestowed on Russia as a reward for its suffering in the 20 th century. The Russian land has suddenly and very quickly revived. This is a real miracle accomplished by the Lord, who has chosen worthy hierarchs to lead the Church.” |
| Delegations from 10 Orthodox Churches Gather in Moscow to Celebrate the Baptism of Rus’ Source: OrthoChristian Photo: rvio.histrf.ru In addition to the 250,000 faithful and delegations from 13 of the world’s 15 Orthodox Churches currently celebrating the Baptism of Rus’ in the ancient city of Kiev, delegations from 10 Local Orthodox Churches have also gathered in Moscow to celebrate the feast with His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, reports Interfax-Religion . The delegations are representing the Alexandrian, Antioch, Jerusalem, Georgian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Cypriot, Albanian, and Polish Orthodox Churches, as well as the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia. Among the distinguished guests is His Beatitude Patriarch Theodoros of Alexandria and All Africa, who arrived to Moscow yesterday, and who has a special love for the Russian Church, having lived, studied, and prayed in Odessa for ten years. “It is very important that our brothers from the entire Orthodox world are in Moscow and Kiev now, to testify together with us to our unity on such an important date for the Russian Orthodox Church,” Patriarcla Press Secretary Fr. Alexander Volkov stated. “Let us pray together, share our joys and concerns, and think about how to strengthen the unity of our world Orthodox family,” Fr. Nikolai Balashov of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations reflected. In this vein, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow noted to the gathered representatives that their support for the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church under His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine and for the unity of the Russian Orthodox Church at such a time is invaluable. He also warned that, “Attempts to artificially tear the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the Moscow Patriarchate could lead to a catastrophe of a pan-Orthodox scale,” reports RIA-Novosti . His Holiness also reminded them that for the Russian Church “Kiev is no ordinary city,” but the “mother of Russian cities; it is the place of the Baptism of Rus’ and the birth of Russian Orthodoxy.” |
| Archive The Holy Synod adopts a number resolutions concerning the external activities of the Russian Orthodox Church 29 December 2022 year 19:43 On 29th December 2022 at the Patriarchal and Synodal residence of St. Daniel’s Monastery in Moscow under the chairmanship of the His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill there took place a session of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, the last of this outgoing year. At the session the Holy Synod adopted a number of resolutions concerning the external activities of the Russian Orthodox Church. Upon hearing a report by the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations the metropolitan of Volokolamsk Anthony on the work of the commission for Old Believer parishes and interaction with the Old Believer community in 2022, the Synod approved the account of the commission on its work. The participants in the session of the Holy Synod heard a report by the metropolitan of Volokolamsk on his visits to the Greek Orthodox Church of the Jerusalem Patriarchate, the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, as well as his visits to Egypt and Italy. The chairman of the DECR also reported on the visit to Russia by the Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East Mar Aba III. The Synod expressed satisfaction at the visit by the Assyrian Patriarch to Russia and noted the importance of further developing relations betweenn the Russian Orthodox Church and the Assyrian Church of the East, including the implementation of joint projects as part of the bilateral commission on dialogue between the two Churches. Having listened to the report by the metropolitan of Volokolamsk Anthony on the preparations for a routine session of the join Russian and Iranian commission on Orthodox-Islamic dialogue, the Holy Synod confirmed the list of members of the delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church to take part in the twelfth session of the aforementioned commission from 19th to 22nd February 2023 in Moscow. |
| Patriarch Kirill congratulates the Primate of the Serbian Orthodox Church on his 90th birthday Source: DECR The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church congratulates His Holiness Irinej, Patriarch of Serbia, on his 90 th birthday. His Holiness Irinej Archbishop of Pec Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovci Patriarch of Serbia Your Holiness, Beloved Brother and Concelebrant at God’s altar, Kindly accept my cordial congratulations on your 90 th birthday. Honoring Your Holiness on this significant day, I repeat the inspiring scriptural words that befit the occasion: “Gray hair is a crown of glory, if it is attained in the way of righteousness” (Proverbs 16:31). Being one of the oldest First Hierarchs, you have gained special authority among the Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches. With your inherent Primatial wisdom and feeling of responsibility you serve to the unity of Orthodoxy and vigilantly guard the two millennia-old canonical order in the Church of Christ which is “ the pillar and foundation of the truth ” (1 Tim. 3:15). The zealous and sacrificial ministry of Your Holiness on the old and glorious Patriarchal See of Pec, filled with paternal concern for the spiritual revival of the co-religious Serbian people so dear to our heart, is abundant , as St. Paul said, by many thanksgivings unto God (2 Cor. 9:12). By the Pantocrator’s providence, you are destined to be at the helm of the Church of St. Sava at a very difficult time marked with trials new for her, especially in Kosovo and Montenegro. In sorrows and joys you and your God-loving flock are always accompanied by the prayerful support of the hierarchy, clergy, monastics and the entire Russian Orthodox Church. Your Holiness, on this glorious day of your celebration, from my heart I would like to wish you abundant physical strength for many years, peace and inexhaustible help from above in your further Patriarchal ministry performed so diligently for the glory of the Consubstantial and Undivided Trinity. |
| Statement on the Persecution of the UOC by the Orthodox Palestine Society/USA Section Source: ROCOR Photo: wikipedia PRESS RELEASE: ON THE SITUATION IN UKRAINE January 18, 2019 The Orthodox Palestine Society/USA expresses its dismay at the external interference in the life of Orthodox Christians in Ukraine. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church obtained autonomy from the Russian Orthodox Church (of which it had been an integral part for centuries) in the early 1990’s following the collapse of the USSR. It is the only canonical [ecclesiastically legal] church in Ukraine. It is currently headed by His Beatitude Metropolitan Onouphry of Kiev and All Ukraine, a pious and revered hierarch, who, together with his bishops, monastics and clergy, ministers to millions of Ukrainians. It is recognized by every Local (National) Orthodox Church in the world. A brazen attempt was recently made by Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople to offer “autocephaly” (limited independence) to two unrepentant schismatic groups in Ukraine, the leaders of which were defrocked for immorality, who then established their own church-like structures. These groups claim only a minority of adherents in Ukraine and are not recognized by any other canonical Orthodox Church (Antiochian, Jerusalem, Serbian, Polish, etc, or until very recently, the Constantinople Patriarchate itself!). The canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church—already enjoying broad autonomy–requested no such autocephaly from Constantinople and now suffers pressure from the Ukrainian state and far-right elements of Ukrainian political society to enter into this false church-like entity. Dozens of churches of the UOC have been confiscated, and physical violence has been suffered by their clergymen and congregants. Under threat are the world-renowned monasteries Kiev-Caves Lavra and Pochaev Lavra. (An inventory of the Kiev Lavra has already been made by the current authorities.) The West, as part of its effort to influence events in Ukraine and the surrounding region, is enabling the current Kievan government under Petro Poroshenko along with the Constantinople Patriarchate to illicitly and with a heavy hand meddle in the affairs of the legitimate, autonomous Ukrainian Orthodox Church. |
| Moldovan President Igor Dodon Moldovan President Igor Dodon has backed the initiative of Patriarch John X of Antioch to convene the Pan-Orthodox Council and proposed holding the council on the territory of the Republic of Moldova. “The church schism could become an open wound on the body of the entire Orthodox world. The authorities of the Orthodox countries, together with the heads of the Local Churches, should do their best to overcome it,” Mr. Dodon wrote on Facebook on Tuesday. He expressed support for the initiative to convene the Pan-Orthodox Council voiced by Patriarch John X of Antioch and supported by clergy and laypeople of the Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, and Polish Orthodox Churches, as well as the Orthodox Churches of Alexandria and Jerusalem and the Orthodox Church in America, in order to resolve one of the most pressing issues in the history of Orthodox Christianity. “In light of the above, I’m putting forward an initiative to host the Pan-Orthodox Council in Moldova. We are a unique Orthodox country situated in the very heart of the Orthodox world, and this is why Moldova could become the venue of meetings between all heads of Local Churches at this most challenging time,” Mr. Dodon wrote. He described the conflict between the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Russian Orthodox Church as one of the most serious issues in the history of Orthodox Christianity. “Moldova has been and will remain a canonical territory of the Moscow Patriarchate,” he said. On October 11, the Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople rehabilitated the leaders of the unrecognized Ukrainian Orthodox churches, announced the opening of a mission in Kiev, and abrogated an ordinance dating back to the 17th century that put the Kiev Metropolitanate under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate did not recognize these decisions, nor did the Moscow Patriarchate itself, which declared the discontinuation of full communion with Constantinople on October 15. |
| Protopriest Alexander Lebedeff Speaks at a Meeting of Orthodox Christian Laity Salt Lake City, UT, October 27, 2010 On October 15-16, 2010, at the invitation of the President of Orthodox Christian Laity, Mitred Protopriest Alexander Lebedeff participated in the group’s annual meeting in Salt Lake City, UT. The gathering began with a meeting of the organization’s administration, at which the results from last year were summarized and future plans set. At 6 pm, all the participants gathered at SS Peter and Paul Cathedral of the Antiochian Orthodox Church, where matins was performed by priests and deacons of various jurisdictions (Greek, Serbian, Antiochian and the Orthodox Church in America). His Beatitude Metropolitan Jonah of All America and Canada, Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, attended vespers, as did His Eminence Archbishop Nathaniel, who heads the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of the OCA. At the end of the service, Metropolitan Jonah read an archpastoral address to the worshipers, in which he stressed the need for Orthodox Christians to contribute of themselves for the sake of the common good. After services and a trapeza organized by the local sisterhood, Metropolitan Jonah and Archbishop Nathaniel shared their impressions of the first Assembly of Bishops of the Holy Orthodox Church in the Americas, which was held in New York in May of this year. The hierarchs emphasized that they were very happy that the first such meeting of its kind took place, and expressed their hope that the work of these Assemblies would lay the foundations for unity within Orthodoxy on the North American continent. The following morning, the event continued at the St Elias the Prophet Greek Orthodox Church. Mitred Protopriest Alexander Lebedeff, Secretary of the Department of Inter-Orthodox Relations of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, spoke on the topic “ Canon Law for Today: Towards the Goal of Administrative Unity in the Orthodox Church in North America.” Archpriest John H. Erickson, Professor of Canon Law and former Dean of St Vladimir Seminary, read a lecture on “The Episcopal Assemblies: Hopes and Realities.” Following these was a lively discussion on the topic of the day, with Archbishop Nathaniel acting as moderator. Also participating in the meeting was the Rector of the neighboring parish of the Russian Church Abroad, Priest Michael van Opstall. |
| Bishop Ioann of Pakrac and Slavonia has given an interview to the Republic of Srpska television on the latest events in Montenegro. After dealing in detail with the close historic relationship of the modern Montenegro state ideology with Ustashism, the hierarch criticised the policy of today’s Montenegro authorities and a discriminatory law they have adopted on freedom of faith calling it “a totalitarian law that actually gives itself and the state a right to evaluate what belongs to the state and what can remain in the Church”. Bishop Ioann said how in 1991 he came to Montenegro to become a novice, first in the Savina Monastery and a year later in the Cetinje Monastery. Describing the situation in Montenegro, he recalled that at that time monks “lived in fear and terror”. Recounting the strong atheistic sentiments prevailing in those years, he shared his remembrances of colonies of snakes that used to fill churches, and how “on his way to Ostrog to venerate St. Basil, he saw a ruined church with Josip Broz Tito’s slogans on it”. The archpastor remembers how the people “in 1991 stoned the Cetinje Monastery in which the Liturgy was being celebrated and the stones were falling on the Body and Blood of Christ”. All the more magnificent has been the spiritual revival that has happened in these 30 years. Now the people “pray to God, defending their Church, and hundreds of thousands of people walk in many kilometres-long prayer marches every day. In Montenegro, he said, the Orthodox people’s conciliar awareness has awakened and the movement in protest against the discriminatory law “is not organized either by Metropolitan Amfilohije or Bishop Ioann and even less by anybody from Serbia or the Montenegro political opposition”. Answering a question from a reporter about the recent celebration of the 800 th anniversary of the autocephaly of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the archpastor said, “What is happening in Montenegro is precisely the true glorification of the 800 th anniversary of the autocephaly of the Serbian Church. What can be a better proof of the independence than these people whose self-awareness is so high that they take to streets in order to defend their Church by prayer?” |
| Accept The site uses cookies to help show you the most up-to-date information. By continuing to use the site, you consent to the use of your Metadata and cookies. Cookie policy Deputy chairman of the DECR speaks on schism as a means of geopolitics On 1 st March 2021 in Moscow the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation hosted a round table on the topic of the role of civil society in guaranteeing stability in the Black Sea and Balkans region. The event was organized by the Public Chamber’s commission on security in conjunction with public observation commissions, the permanent representation of the Republic of Crimea to the Russian President and the business and cultural centre of the Republic of Crimea. The session of the round table heard a presentation by the deputy chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate the archbishop of Vladikavkaz and Alania Leonid entitled ‘Church schism in Ukraine and in Montenegro as a means of geopolitics.’ Noting that on the territories of the Black Sea and Balkan regions there are located dioceses of seven of the fifteen Local Orthodox Churches, archbishop Leonid touched upon, in particular, the situation in Montenegro, where in 2019 a law was passed allowing the authorities to confiscate old church buildings and monasteries fr om the Serbian Orthodox Church, the bulk of whose flock is made up of Orthodox Montenegrins. The adoption of this law provoked a sharp reaction amongst the population of Montenegro. Archbishop Leonid reminded the round tables’ participants that “protests engulfed the whole country. Many thousands of people, in spite of the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, took to the streets to state that they had no intention of surrendering their holy sites. The bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, including the ever-memorable metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral Amphilochius, fought for this discriminatory law to be abolished.” He also noted that repeatedly speaking out in defence of the canonical unity of the Serbian Church were the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus Kirill and the holy synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as the primates and bishops of the Churches of Jerusalem, Rumania, Poland and the Czech Lands and Slovakia. |
| His Holiness Patriarch Irinej of Serbia celebrates requiem service for those killed in plane crash over the Black Sea Source: DECR On 26 December 2016, His Holiness Patriarch Irinej of Serbia visited the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity – Metochion of the Russian Orthodox Church in Belgrade. His Holiness celebrated the requiem service for those who had died on board the Russian Defense Ministry Tu-154 aircraft. The tragedy occurred near the city of Sochi on December 25. Concelebrating with the Primate of the Serbian Orthodox Church were the rector of the Metochion, archpriest Vitaly Tarasiev, and the Belgrade clergy. Among those praying in the church were Bishop Nazary of Kronstadt, vicar of the St. Petersburg diocese, who is currently on pilgrimage in Serbia; Mr. Alexander Chepurin, Russia’s Ambassador to Serbia; Mr. Vladimir Chushev, Ambassador of Belarus to Serbia; Ms Nadezhda Kuschenkova, director of the Russian House in Belgrade; representatives of the Serbian Ministry of Defense; and parishioners of the Russian Metochion. After the requiem service, His Holiness Patriarch Irinej expressed his condolences to the President of the Russian Federation, Mr. Vladimir Putin, as well as to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, the whole Russian Orthodox Church and all the people of Russia, saying in particular, “The tragedy that has stricken the Russian Orthodox people, the Russian Orthodox Church, is our common tragedy, our common pain.” His Holiness mentioned the artists of the Alexandrov Ensemble who had also died in the plane crash. As the Primate of the Serbian Church noted, “since its foundation the Ensemble has been bringing beauty and joy into the lives of those who had an opportunity to hear it perform.” Patriarch Irinej called upon all those present to pray for the repose of the souls of the victims, saying, “They deserve our human gratitude and God’s mercy. May the Lord give rest to their souls in the dwellings of the righteous and grant consolation to the families of the victims in their great sorrow.” |
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