ROCOR Metropolitan to Undergo Surgery

Please remember Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral) of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia in your prayers as he undergoes knee surgery in Australia this coming Monday.

Update (28/2/2012): Metropolitan Hilarion's doctors successfully performed the knee replacement surgery and are pleased with the results of the operation. More here.

Episcopal Assembly of Oceania Holds 2nd Session

The hierarchs of the Local Orthodox Churches serving in Australia and Oceania have met for the second session of the Episcopal Assembly of Oceania at the headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia in the greater Sydney area. Hierarchs and clergy representing the Greek, Antiochian, Russian, Serbian, Romanian, and Ukrainian Orthodox dioceses in Oceania were present for the Assembly. More here. Hat tip to Byzantine Texas!

Assyrian Patriarch Begins Australia Visit

Catholicos-Patriarch Mar Dinkha IV (Khananya) of Seleucia-Ctesiphon has begun a pastoral visit to the Assyrian Church of the East in Australia. More here.

Romanian Orthodox Parish Opens in Canberra

Bishop Mihail of Sydney of the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of Australia and New Zealand has celebrated the first Sunday Liturgy of the new Romanian Orthodox parish in the Australian federal capital, Canberra. The services were hosted by the Romanian Embassy in Canberra and were followed by a general assembly of the community to elect a parish council. More (in Romanian) here.

NSW Monasteries' Future Expansion Threatened

The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia's Monasteries of the Pantanassa and the Holy Cross are facing challenges to their future on their properties on New South Wales' Central Coast as a local governmental authority has rezoned them to ban the future expansion or construction of churches or chapels by the Monasteries. More here.

Coptic Orthodox Diocese Hopes to Build Large Complex in Melbourne

The Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Melbourne has submitted an application with the city of Melbourne for permission to build a large church and seminary complex on the former site of a sauna that it bought several years ago. The current plans call for a 42-storey bell tower and enough space inside the church to accommodate over 300 worshipers. More here.

Australian Catholic Bishop Placed in Early Retirement

Pope Benedict XVI of Rome has placed a Roman Catholic bishop in Australia in early retirement for his support of the ordination of women to the Roman Catholic priesthood and the recognition of mainstream Protestant clergymen in Australia as clergy. More here. Hat tip to Ad Orientem for posting this first!

Hierarchical Visit to Former OCA Parish in Brisbane

This past Lent Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral) of New York celebrated the festal services for the Annunciation at the Church of the Annunciation in Brisbane, Queensland. His visit to the parish was the first by a hierarch in 22 years and the metropolitan's first as its diocesan hierarch since the parish's transfer from the American Orthodox Church to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia 2 years ago. More here.

Melbourne Parish Made Cathedral

This past Sunday the Church of St. Mary in Melbourne, Victoria, was elevated to the rank of a cathedral by Catholicos Moran Mar Baselios Mar Thoma Paulose II of the East of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. The bull proclaiming the parish's elevation was read by Metropolitan Yuhanon Mar Dioscoros of Chennai (Madras). More here.

Metropolitan Hilarion Recuperating

Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral) of New York and Sydney has undergonea successful operation on his knee and has begun physiotherapy. If I'm not mistaken he will remain in Australia for the duration of his recovery. More here.

Bishop Maxim Visits Australia

Bishop Maxim (Vasilijevic) of Alhambra of the Serbian Orthodox Church began his visit to Australia today. During the course of his stay in Australia he will speak at a clergy retreat of the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Australia and New Zealand. More here.

Coptic Orthodox Priest to be Ordained in Perth

In a week and a half Bishop Suriel (al-Anba Bishoy) of Melbourne of the Coptic Orthodox Church will ordain Deacon Marco Sorsok to the holy priesthood in Perth, making his ordination the first of its kind in the Coptic Orthodox Church in Western Australia. Fr. Marco has actively served the Coptic Orthodox Church in Australia at parishes in Oakleigh, Victoria, and Perth, Western Australia, and has also participated in the Church's outreach in Fiji. More here.

Last OCA Parish in Australia Joins Serbian Orthodox Church

The last of the parishes of the American Orthodox Church (OCA) in Australia, St. Michael's Church in Homebush, New South Wales, has been transferred to the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Australia and New Zealand. The parish had been served for several years by a Serbian Orthodox priest, but remained a multiethnic community faithful to its Russian roots.

The decision to join the Church of Serbia was made at a recent assembly of St. Michael's Church. It received the blessing of Metropolitan Jonah (Paffhausen) of Washington, its diocesan hierarch, and received its new antimens from Bishop Irinej (Dobrijevic) of Sydney this past Sunday. More here.

Bishop Iakovos Consecrated in Sydney

Fr. Iakovos (Tsigounis) has been consecrated Bishop of Meletoupolis in Sydney! Axios! His consecration coincided with the 25th anniversary of St. Andrew's Theological College on the compound of Holy Annunciation Cathedral in Redfern, New South Wales, and was well attended. Bishop Iakovos' title is the same as that held by Archbishop Stylianos (Harkianakis) of Sydney during his service under the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Greek-occupied Macedonia.

The newly consecrated Bishop Iakovos will be serving under Archbishop Stylianos in the Australian states of Victoria and Tasmania. God grant him many, many years in His service!

Catholicos Baselios Thomas I Visiting Australia and New Zealand

Catholicos Abun Mor Baselios Thomas I has begun a pastoral visit to the parishes of the Malankara Syriac Orthodox Church in Australia and New Zealand. More here.

Icon of Our Lady of Sorrows Visiting Australia

The wonderworking icon of the Mother of God 'Softener of Hardened Hearts' is visiting the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad in Australia. In the West this depiction of the Mother of God is known as 'Our Lady of Sorrows' as it depicts seven swords symbolizing the seven sorrows of the Mother of God. More on the icon can be found here. Its itinerary in Australia can be found here.

St. Petka's Monastery in NSW Completed

Construction of St. Petka's Monastery in New South Wales is nearly complete and will soon be home to a Macedonian Orthodox sisterhood. The Monastery has already become a focal point for pilgrimage, with nearly 10,000 pilgrims from Sydney and nearby Wollongong coming to celebrate Theophany this past January. Metropolitan Petar of Prespa, administrator of the Macedonian Orthodox Diocese of Australia and New Zealand, recently blessed the Monastery church's domes during a pastoral visit to Australia. More here.

St. Simeon's Village in Rooty Hill, NSW, Expanding Facilities

St. Simeon's Village, a retirement home maintained by St. Stephen's Serbian Orthodox Church in Rooty Hill, New South Wales, will be expanding its premises to increase its occupancy. Most of the retirees living at St. Simeon's Village are Serbs, but non-Serbs are also in residence. More here.

Construction of Sydney's St. Sava College Continues

Construction of St. Sava's College, a future educational institution of the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Australia and New Zealand, is well underway in Varroville (metro Sydney), New South Wales. More here.

Interview with Fr. Themistocles Adamopoulo and Orthodoxy in Sierra Leone

An interesting 2005 interview with Archimandrite Themistocles (Adamopoulo) about his life and Orthodoxy in Australia and Kenya can be found here. Since the time of the interview Fr. Themistocles has been placed in charge of the Alexandrian Orthodox Church's outreach in Sierra Leone as administrator of the newly created Diocese of Freetown.

Since Fr. Themistocles' arrival in Sierra Leone in 2007 the Church has gone from being non-existent to consisting of two parishes with four local priests, a large primary/secondary school in the capital, an agricultural school in the countryside, a clinic to assist in the rehabilitation of amputees, and an educational outreach in a women's prison in Freetown. In September 2011 an Orthodox university is due to open in the country as well.

More on the Orthodox Church in Sierra Leone and Fr. Themistocles' recent visit with Pope Theodoros II (Horeftakis) of Alexandria can be found here.

Pictured is Fr. Themistocles with patients of the amputee clinic in Sierra Leone.