Ukrainian Orthodox Patriarch Visits Chicagoland

Patriarch Philaret (Denysenko), first hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate, has completed a pastoral visit to the exarchate of the Kiev Patriarchate in the United States. During his time in the USA the Ukrainian Orthodox patriarch, once a frontrunner in the USSR for election as head of the Russian Orthodox Church, visited Ukrainian Orthodox churches in the Chicago area. More here.

SCOOCH Concelebration Scheduled for November

The Standing Conference of Oriental Orthodox Churches (SCOOCH) in the United States has scheduled a concelebration of the Divine Liturgy by SCOOCH member hierarchs for 19 November at the Coptic Orthodox Church of Sts. Michael and Menas on Staten Island. More here.

US Troops to Withdraw Fully from Iraq

President Barack Obama has announced that all US troops will be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of the year, bringing to a close the long US military involvement in the country that has seen the collapse of order and widespread discrimination against and persecution of Iraq's previously sizable Assyrian Christian, Eastern Catholic, and Orthodox Christian minorities. More here.

Cilicia Catholicos to Visit Western USA

Catholicos Aram I (Keshishian) of the Armenian Orthodox Church of Cilicia will shortly begin a pastoral visit to the Armenian Orthodox parishes under his jurisdiction in the western United States. More here.

Pope Shenouda Preaches Weekly Sermon, Prepares for Visits to the USA and Hungary

Taking rumors of his death lightly, during his weekly Wednesday sermon Pope Shenouda III (al-Suriani) of Alexandria told those present that he "came from the other world" because he missed his flock. The Coptic Orthodox pope will travel to Hungary next week to consecrate that country's first Coptic Orthodox church and then make a brief trip to the United States for medical checkups. More here.

Bangalore Metropolitan Visiting USA

Metropolitan Abraham Mar Seraphim of Bangalore of the independent Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church has begun a 3-week pastoral visit to the United States during which he will visit Malankara Orthodox parishes in metro Chicago (where he previously served as an assistant priest), the East Coast, and Texas and lead celebrations of the Dormition and Assumption of the Mother of God in Chicagoland. Metropolitan Mar Seraphim will also visit St. Tikhon's Theological Seminary in eastern Pennsylvania during his time in the United States. More here.

US Commission Calls for Discussion of Safety of Iraqi Religious Minorities

In light of the recent bombing of a Syriac Catholic church in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk and the attempted bombings of two other churches the US Commission on International Religious Freedom has recommended that the US and Iraqi governments make the security of Iraq's religious minorities a topic of discussion in negotiations on the presence of US forces in Iraq after this year. More here.

Indian Orthodox TV Launched in the USA

The independent Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church's Metropolitan Geevarghese Mar Yulios of Ahmedabad has launched a branch of Indian Orthodox TV in the United States during his recent visit to North America. More here.

Metropolitan Elpidophoros Visits New England

Metropolitan Elpidophoros of Brusa, one of the many hierarchs of the Constantinopolitan Orthodox Church in Turkey without a living diocese, has made a pastoral visit to the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston, touring one of the Metropolis' summer camps with Metropolitan Methodios (Tournas) of Boston and ordaining a clergy at Brookline's Holy Cross Seminary. More (in Greek) here.

Ecumenical Patriarch Meets with US Secretary of State in Constantinople

Patriarch Bartholomew (Arhondonis) of Constantinople has met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the Phanar as part of Clinton's visit to Istanbul. During their meeting the two discussed issues relating to the life of the Constantinopolitan Orthodox Church in Turkey, in particular the reopening of the Halki Seminary. More (in Greek) here.

Malbis Plantation and Memorial Church Added to US National Register of Historic Places

The structures of the Malbis Plantation in Malbis, Alabama, have been added to the US National Register of Historic Places. The Plantation was founded by a Greek immigrant, Jason Malbis (born Antonios Markopoulos), seeking to establish a Greek colony in the United States and includes the Church of the Entrance of the Theotokos, which was built in memory of Malbis after his death. More here.

Pope Shenouda in USA for Medical Tests, Not Protests

A spokesman of the Coptic Orthodox Holy Synod has denied rumors that Pope Shenouda III (al-Suriani) is in the United States to protest political developments in Egypt. Pope Shenouda traveled to the USA at the end of May for a round of medical examinations and recently announced an extension of his stay to finish additional tests requested by his doctors. More here.

Pope Shenouda Returns to USA for Medical Care

The Coptic Orthodox Church's 88-year old Pope Shenouda III (al-Suriani) has returned to the United States for medical treatment. More here.

Memorial Day

Christ is risen! Today's commemoration is kept by Orthodox Christians in the United States and informally at that. Although a federal holiday, Memorial Day is very much in keeping with the practice of preserving the memory of the dead and those who have died for their country.

This particular holiday began amongst black Americans in Charleston, South Carolina, to commemorate the US soldiers who died to reintegrate the South into the United States and to bring freedom to the South's slaves. Since its beginnings in the late 1800s Memorial Day has become a holiday celebrating all the soldiers who have died fighting for the United States and in popular practice often supplants All Saints' as a day for visiting loved ones in the cemeteries.

May the memory of our loved ones who have fallen asleep be eternal! God grant them and us His peace, in this life and the next...

Wikileaks: Constantinople Concerned About Russian Ambitions

A recent Wikileaks release has shed new light on the discussions between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Turkish, US, and Greek governments regarding the reopening of the Halki Seminary, with Patriarch Bartholomew (Arhondonis) of Constantinople at one point telling a US senator that, 'If the Ecumenical Patriarchate abandons its traditional headquarters in Istanbul, then the Russian Orthodox Church will fulfill its ambition to take command of the Ecumenical Patriarchate." He went on to say that, 'The Patriarchate needs protection so as not to lose face before Ankara and the ambition of the Russians.' More (in Greek) here.

US Senate Calls for Halki Seminary's Reopening

The United States Senate has passed a resolution calling on the Turkish government to address the challenges faced by Turkey's dwindling Greek-speaking minority, among them the need to reopen the Halki Seminary. More here.

Ahmedabad Metropolitan Visits USA

Metropolitan Geevarghese Mar Yulios of Ahmedabad begins a month-long visit to the USA today to visit the parish he served as a priest in Chicagoland and other parishes of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in the eastern and central United States. More here.

Israel Approves West Bank Housing Expansion

The Israeli government has approved the construction of 294 homes on Palestinian Arab territory on the West Bank in the wake of an announcement from the US government that it still expects a peace between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority to include Palestinian Arab control of the entirety of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The houses will become residences for Jewish fundamentalists wanting to live in the area. More here.

Syriac Orthodox Summer Camp in NJ

The Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese of Teaneck and the Eastern United States has announced that it is sponsoring the United States' first Suryoyo (ethnic Syrian) summer camp this year. More here.

Coptic Orthodox Church Rejects US Report

The Coptic Orthodox Church has publicly rejected a US report on the state of religious freedom in Egypt, calling on the Egyptian government to resolve the spreading mistreatment of the Copts since the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak regardless of what foreign powers say or wish to see happen. More here.