Halki Seminary to Reopen

According to US President Barack Obama the Turkish government has committed to reopened the Holy Trinity Theological Seminary on Halki, used by the Constantinopolitan Orthodox Church to train clergymen in Turkey until the Seminary's closure in 1971. The Seminary's reopening is a key step towards Turkish membership in the European Union. 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President Barack Obama has announced that all US troops will be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of the year, bringing to a close the long US military involvement in the country that has seen the collapse of order and widespread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.

US President Calls for Wider Religious Freedom in Macedonia

US President Barack Obama has called on President Gjorge Ivanov of Macedonia to do more to safeguard the religious freedoms of all Macedonians, noting in particular the discrimination against the autonomous Macedonian Orthodox Church under Archbishop Jovan (Vraniskovski) of Ohrid and the Macedonian government's refusal to allow it to register as a religious organization. More (in Macedonian) here.

President Obama Appoints Archbishop Demetrios to Advisory Council

President Barack Obama of the United States has announced that he will be appointing Archbishop Demetrios (Trakatellis) of New York of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America to the President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. More here.