Bulgarian Orthodox Church Calls for Religious Education in State Schools

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church is calling upon its members to pray for the introduction of religious education into the curriculum of Bulgaria's state schools. Proposals for the introduction of religious education are currently under discussion by the Bulgarian government. More in Bulgarian here.

Syriac Orthodox Church Announces Plans to Open Private University in Syria

The Syriac Orthodox Church has announced plans for the construction of a church-affiliated private university near al-Qamishli in northeastern Syria. The new Al-Akhtal University will focus on scientific fields, with faculties of dentistry, engineering, medicine, and pharmacology (among others) planned. More here.

Religion Curriculum Issued in Moldova

The Moldovan Ministry of Education has issued a curriculum for the teaching of the Orthodox Faith in Moldovan schools. As religion can only be taught in Moldova's primary and secondary schools at the request of students' parents the Moldovan Orthodox Church has called on its faithful in the country to approach their local schools about the organization of religion classes. More (in Romanian) here.

Moldova, Gagauzia Dispute Romanian-Language Education

Tensions have risen in Moldova between the central government and the government of the autonomous region of Gagauzia, which has blamed the Moldovan government for failing to provide sufficient funds for the teaching of Romanian as a second language to Gagauz high school students, 10% of whom failed their final exams because of their inability to pass sections on the Romanian language and literature. More here.

Gagauzia, situated in southern Moldova, is the homeland of Moldova's Gagauz minority, a Turkic nation that settled in Bessarabia centuries ago and adopted Orthodox Christianity instead of the Islam of the Crimean Tatars to their east and the Ottoman Turks to their south. Although there were fears that the pro-Russian Gagauz would seek to secede from Moldova as Russians and Ukrainians in eastern Moldova did after the fall of the USSR the Gagauz instead negotiated autonomy for predominantly Gagauz districts in Moldova.

Cypriot Orthodox Holy Synod Meets

At its session today the Holy Synod of the Cypriot Orthodox Church expressed its concern about the possible removal of religious symbols from the classrooms of Cyprus' public schools and defended its first hierarch's public statements on political issues in the country as expressing the Church's views on developments in Cypriot life without becoming involved in politics per se. More (in Greek) here.

Moscow, Tbilisi Universities Sign Agreement

St. Tikhon's Humanitarian University in Moscow and St. Andrew's Patriarchal University in Tbilisi have signed a agreement that will widen educational cooperation between the universities and the joint publication of Georgian and Russian-language theological works in Georgia and Russia. More here.

Belorussian Orthodox Church, Ministry of Education Sign Agreement

The Belorussian government and the Belorussian Orthodox Church have signed an agreement on cooperation in their educational efforts. More here.

Turkey's Syriac Orthodox Want Right to Educate Children

Turkey's ethnic Syrians, members of the Syriac Orthodox Church, are struggling to regain the right to educate their children in their own schools. When the last Syriac Orthodox school was closed in 1938 Syriac Orthodox children in Turkey were sent to Armenian and Greek-speaking schools until the Turkish government ended the practice in the 1980s. More here.