Tent Church in Kiev Torn Down

Ukrainian authorities have removed a tent church outside the Ukrainian Parliament set up in protest of the illegal seizure of a church in western Ukraine of ultra-nationalists working with the Kiev Patriarchate. More here.

Abkhazian Orthodox Conference Appeals to World Orthodox Churches

The Georgian Orthodox Church has called on a national conference of the Abkhazian Orthodox Church to give up its call for the restoration of its past autocephaly and submit to the Georgian-dominated Patriarchate of Mtskheta-Tbilisi. The conference itself organized the Orthodox Church in Abkhazia as an archdiocese with its see at the New Athos Monastery and appealed to the first hierarchs of the Local Orthodox Churches to work together to resolve the status of the Church of Abkhazia. More here.

Metropolitan Volodymyr Visits Western Ukraine

Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan) of Kiev has begun a pastoral visit to the eparchies of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in western Ukraine and to the Pochaev Lavra. More (in Russian) here.

Catholicos Aram Visits Kuwait

Catholicos Aram I (Keshishian) of the Armenian Orthodox Church of Cilicia has begun a visit to Kuwait to visit the Armenian Orthodox community there and participate in the the 50th anniversary celebrations of Kuwait City's Armenian school. More here.

Serbian Orthodox Assembly of Bishops Begins

The Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church has opened in Belgrade, Serbia, with a Divine Liturgy served by Patriarch Irinej (Gavrilovich) of Pech together with his brother hierarchs. More here.

Update (1:07pm): Reportedly on the agenda of the current session of the Assembly is a decision on the excommunication of the schismatic former Bishop Artemije of Raska and Prizren and the creation of new eparchies. More here.

UAE Parish Becomes Cathedral

Over the weekend Catholicos Moran Mar Baselios Thoma I of Kottayam and the East concelebrated the Divine Liturgy with other hierarchs of the Malankara Syriac Orthodox Church in the Church of St. George in Al Ain, UAE, which by a decree of Patriarch Ignatios Zakka I (Iwas) of Antioch was elevated to the rank of a cathedral. More (in Arabic) here.

Bulgarian and Russian Orthodox Hierarchs Discuss Inter-Orthodox Relations

Patriarch Maxim (Minkov) of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokolamsk of the Russian Orthodox Church have met together with other hierarchs of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in Sofia, Bulgaria, to discuss relations between the two sister Orthodox Churches and recent developments in relations between all the Local Orthodox Churches. More (in Russian) here.

Update (17/5/2011): An English-language report on the meeting can be found here.

Constantinopolitan, Russian Orthodox Hierarchs Concelebrate in Cappadocia

Patriarch Bartholomew (Arhondonis) of Constantinople and Archbishop Arseniy (Epifanov) of Istra, auxiliary of the Moscow Patriarchate, have concelebrated the Divine Liturgy with other hierarchs and clergy of the Constantinopolitan and Russian Orthodox Churches in the village of Arvissos (Gyulsehir) as part of their joint pilgrimage to Cappadocia. More (in Russian) here.

Photo of the Day: Consecration of Idaho Church

Auxiliary Bishop Joseph (al-Zehlaoui) of Los Angeles of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America consecrates Holy Myrrhbearers' Church in Bonners Ferry, Idaho.

St. Leontius of Vilnius Glorified in Minsk

This past Sunday Metropolitan Filaret (Vakhromeyev) of the Belorussian Orthodox Church celebrated the glorification of Archimandrite St. Leontius (Karpovich) of Vilnius, a widely venerated saint in Belarus who led the resistance to the Union of Brest in what today is Lithuania and Belarus. The glorification was concelebrated by hierarchs of the Belorussian Orthodox Church and many clergy from the Orthodox Churches in Belarus and Lithuania. More (in Russian) here.

Metropolitan Hilarion Visits Bulgaria

Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokolamsk has begun a visit to Bulgaria to meet with the leadership of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and participate in the celebrations commemorating the newly glorified Bulgarian New Martyrs of Batak. More (in Russian) here.

St. Theodosius of the Kiev Caves

Christ is risen! Христос воскрес! Joyous feast! С праздником! St. Theodosius is one of the renowned early abbots of the Kiev Caves Lavra of the Dormition in Ukraine and is often remembered in the same breath as St. Anthony, the Lavra's founder. During his abbacy the Lavra's communal rule (устав) was adopted by the brotherhood. More on St. Theodosius' life can be found here. May his blessing and prayers be with us all!

Sts. Timothy and Maura

Christ is risen! Joyous feast! I must confess to have known absolutely nothing about Sts. Timothy and Maura before friends of mine took them as their patrons, but after I found out they existed I suddenly started noticing them. I think they are saints who were much better known in the past. Regardless, the story of their lives can be found here. May their blessings and prayers be with us all!

Serbian Orthodox Youth Conference in Seattle

The annual youth conference of the Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America will this year be held at Seattle Pacific University in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. More here.

Egyptian PM Promises to Reopen 16 Churches

Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf has committed to reopening 16 Coptic Orthodox churches that had previously been closed in response to ongoing protests outside the Egyptian state media headquarters in Cairo. More here.

In Memoriam: Metropolitan Epiphanios of Madrid

Retired Metropolitan Epiphanios (Perialas) of Bryoula, first Metropolitan of Madrid of the Constantinopolitan Orthodox Church, has fallen asleep in New York. More here. May his memory be eternal!

Russian Orthodox Participate in Patriarchal Pilgrimage to Cappadocia

A delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church led by Archbishop Arseniy (Epifanov) of Istra, an auxiliary of the Moscow Patriarchate, has arrived in Constantinople to participate in the annual pilgrimage to Cappadocia organized by the Church of Constantinople. After arriving in Turkey the delegation met with Patriarch Bartholomew (Arhondonis) of Constantinople before going to visit Constantinople's Cathedral of the Holy Wisdom ('Agia Sofia') and the patriarchal Church of St. George. More (in Russian) here.

Pope Shenouda Calls for an End to Cairo Protest

Pope Shenouda III (al-Suriani) of Alexandria has called on Copts demonstrating outside the Egyptian state media offices in Cairo to end their protests for the sake of Egypt, saying that the "patience of the rulers is starting to end and you will be the losers if you continue in the protest." More here.

St. Boris of Bulgaria

Christ is risen! Joyous feast! Today is also the feast of Tsar St. Boris of the Bulgarians, venerated as 'equal to the Apostles' for his conversion of the Bulgarian nation to Orthodox Christianity and also remembered as Michael after his baptismal name. More on his life can be found here. May his blessing and prayers be with us all!

St. Athanasius the Great

Christ is risen! Joyous feast! St. Athanasius the Great of Alexandria is a towering figure of the early Church and a beloved saint of the Alexandrian and Coptic Orthodox Churches. He's also responsible for the organization of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which is today the largest Orthodox Church in its communion. More on St. Athanasius' life can be found here. May his blessing and prayers be with us all!

Attack on Cairene Copts Kills 2, Injures 60

Two are dead and over sixty injured in Cairo after unidentified gunmen opened fire on a peaceful sit-in at the Egyptian state media buildings organized by Copts upset over the burning of two Coptic Orthodox churches in Giza. Egyptian riot police were deployed to separate from the gunmen and the Coptic protesters, but not before lives had been lost. More here.

Egypt Vows to Change Discriminatory Laws

The Egyptian government has vowed to change a discriminatory law regulating church construction and introduce anti-discrimination laws within 30 days. More here.

My apologies - I had this posted on Wednesday or Thursday, but it disappeared in the recent Blogger malfunction. Hat tip to Byzantine Texas for this particular link!

Russia Approves Visa-Free Travel with South Ossetia, Abkhazia

The Russian government has concluded agreements with the newly independent states of South Ossetia and Abkhazia allowing for visa-free travel between the three countries. More here.

Georgia Celebrates Arrival of St. Andrew

Celebrations marking the arrival of St. Andrew the Apostle in Georgia have been held in Tbilisi with the participation of representatives of the Constantinopolitan, Russian, Bulgarian, Polish, and Ukrainian Orthodox Churches. More (in Ukrainian) here.

Vatican Mandates Celebration of Latin Mass for Traditionalist Faithful

The Vatican has issued a directive mandating the celebration of the traditional Latin-language Roman Mass in parishes with traditional Roman Catholic members. More here.