Metropolitan Volodymyr Concludes Pilgrimage to the Holy Land

Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan) of Kiev has returned from his pilgrimage to the Holy Land. During the course of his pilgrimage he met with Patriarch Theophilos III (Giannopoulos) of Jerusalem in the Holy City, concelebrated the festal services for the Annunciation in Nazareth, and celebrated the Divine Liturgy on the Tomb of the Lord in Jerusalem's Church of the Resurrection.

Metropolitan Volodymyr was accompanied on his pilgrimage by Archbishops Filipp (Osadchenko) of Poltava and Alexander (Drabinko) of Pereslavl and Bishop Feodor (Mamasuyev) of Mukachevo and Uzhhorod, all hierarchs of the autonomous Ukrainian Orthodox Church. More on his travels can be found here.

Patriarch Theophilos Celebrates Annunciation in Nazareth

On yesterday's feast of the Annunciation Patriarch Theophilos III (Giannopoulos) of Jerusalem celebrated the festal Divine Liturgy in Nazareth's Church of the Archangel Gabriel. Reflecting the mixture of peoples present, the services were celebrated in a mixture of Arabic, Greek, Romanian, and Slavonic. More here.

Update (10/4/2011): Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan) of Kiev was present in Nazareth on the Annunciation as part of his pilgrimage to the Holy Land and concelebrated the festal services with Patriarch Theophilos. More on his visit can be found here.

Upper Nazareth Mayor Bans Christmas Decorations

The mayor of a largely Jewish suburb of Nazareth has refused to allow any decorations to be put up in honor of Christmas or the Nativity despite the fact that roughly 15% of his community is Roman Catholic or Orthodox Christian and the vast majority of nearby Nazareth is Palestinian Arab (and a third of them Christians). More here.