Church Attendance in the Russian Diaspora

An interesting article by Archpriest Serafim Gan of St. Seraphim's Church in Sea Cliff, New York, on the issue of declining church attendance in the West can be found here.

"No Longer a Prisoner in Tehran"

An interesting article about Russian-Canadian Marina Nemat, her books about life in post-revolutionary Iran, and her experiences since then can be found here.

Fascist Protesters March in Vilnius

This past weekend fascist protesters in Vilnius called for a "Lithuania for the Lithuanians." Modern Lithuania is a vestige of Lithuania at its height as a grand duchy united with the Kingdom of Poland, but remains as multiethnic as its predecessor with some 20% of its citizens being of non-Lithuanian ethnicity (primarily Poles, Russians, Belorussians, and Ukrainians). More here.

Razgrad Commemorates Deliverance from the Turkish Yoke

In honor of the 133rd anniversary of the liberation of Razgrad, Bulgaria, from the Turks Metropolitan Neofit of Ruse celebrated a memorial for the imperial Russian soldiers and Bulgarian freedom fighters responsible for the expulsion of the Turkish occupying forces on 28 January in the city's Church of St. Nicholas. More here.

Convert to Islam Suspect in Domodedovo Bombing

The Russian government has named a convert to Islam from the southern Russian city of Stavropol', Vitaliy Razdobudko, as its priem suspect in the recent suicide bombing at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport. More here.

Nativity Services Held in Shanghai

This past Thursday Chinese authorities allowed Russian Orthodox Christians in the city of Shanghai to celebrate the Lord's Nativity in that city's St. Nicholas' Church with visiting priest Fr. Aleksiy Kiselevich. Although the festal services were only open to non-PRC citizens Fr. Aleksiy was able to visit the city's retired Chinese Orthodox priest, Fr. Michael Wang, in the days following the Nativity to congratulate him with the feast. More here.

Pictured is Fr. Aleksiy Kiselevich giving a book on Chinese Orthodoxy published in Russia to Fr. Michael Wang, Shanghai's only surviving Chinese Orthodox priest.

Interview about Russian Orthodoxy in Turkey

In a Russian-language interview with Orthodoxy and the World Archimandrite Bessarion (Kozmias), a clergymen of Ecumenical Patriarchate serving St. Alypius the Stylite's Church in Antalya, Turkey, stated that the Turkish government is increasingly seeking to protect the country's ethnic minorities, as evidence by the new style Dormition services at the abandoned Soumela Monastery in August 2010 and the opening of St. Nicholas' Church in Myra to occasional Orthodox services.

In 2006 over 300 signatures were collected to request the opening of an Orthodox church for Russians in Antalya, but it wasn't until a recent thaw in relations between the Constantinopolitan and Russian Orthodox Churches that St. Alypius' Church was opened (in 2010). Antalya is home to the largest group of Russians in Turkey, of which there are now over 200,000 (according to Fr. Bessarion).

The full interview with Fr. Bessarion can be found here.

Update: I just found a couple of English translations of the interview posted here.

Pictured is St. Alypius' Church, which is still undergoing renovations.

Majority of Russians Now Celebrate Nativity Holiday

In a poll a majority of Russians (83%) said that they celebrated the Lord's Nativity as a major holiday. In the past the Soviet regime sought to remove the memory of church holy days from the minds of the Soviet Union's peoples, replacing Nativity celebrations with the new style New Year holiday. More on the poll's findings can be found here.

Controversy Over New Church in Tallinn

The controversy in Estonia over the construction of a new Orthodox church in a largely Russian-speaking district of the capital, Tallinn, is ongoing as the Estonian Security Police have criticized the city's mayor for allowing donations to the church from a Russia-based foundation, the Foundation of St. Andrew the First-Called. The Foundation has responded by questioning the police's accusations that the new church represents an extension of Russian political influence, especially as the Estonian government recently contributed to the renovation of an Estonian Lutheran church in St. Petersburg and this action was not seen in either Russia or Estonia as an aggressive extension of influence on Estonia's part. More here.

First Russian Orthodox Services in Zimbabwe

The rector of the Russian Orthodox representation in Johannesburg recently made a visit to Harare to minister to the spiritual needs of the Russian Orthodox community there and to discuss the state of the Russian community in Zimbabwe with government officials. The services were the first ever in Zimbabwe to be celebrated in the Slavonic language. More here.