Georgian Orthodox Church Backs Down on Religious Minorities Law

The Georgian Orthodox Church has backed down from its strident, at times somewhat hysterical, opposition to a new law granting legal status to minority religious organizations in Georgia after a representative of the Georgian government informed a session of the Georgian Orthodox Holy Synod that the new law did not grant minority faiths equal standing with the Church of Georgia. More here.

Tbilisi Marches Protest New Legislation on Religious Organizations

Large protest marches took place over the weekend in Tbilisi, Georgia, to protest the Georgian government's enactment of legislation allowing the country's minority religious organizations to register with the state. The marches, the largest in recent years, were fueled by concerns that southeastern Georgia's Armenian minority will use the new legislation to gain equality with ethnic Georgians and by the Sunday sermon of Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II (Gudushauri-Shiolashvili) of the Georgian Orthodox Church, who said the new laws "humiliated the Church" and those behind them would "definitely be punished." More here and here.

Bulgarian Ultra-Nationalists Attack Sofia Muslims

This past Friday Bulgarian ultra-nationalists attacked Turkish Muslims praying at a mosque in downtown Sofia, beating many of them and burning their prayer rugs. A member of the Bulgarian Parliament involved in the attack was injured during the ensuing fight. More on the attack here. Following the incident several hundred Bulgarians organized a demonstration in Sofia, laying flowers at the mosque in protest of the attack. More here.

Egyptian PM Visits Qena

Egyptian Premier Essam Sharaf is visiting Qena as part of his investigations into the widespread protests sparked by the appointment of Emad Mikhail, a Copt, as governor of the area. More here.

Romanian Teens Polled

A poll in Romania has found that many of its teens may be anti-Semitic and racist. More here.

Ethiopian Migrant Workers Return from Middle East

A number of Ethiopian migrant workers deported as political unrest and economic uncertainty sweep through Yemen and the rest of the Middle East have been returned to Ethiopia, many with stories of mistreatment and abuse. More 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.

Russian Orthodox Church in Addis Abeba Under Construction

Preparations are well underway for the construction of a representation of the Moscow Patriarchate in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, to provide a Byzantine Rite church for the Orthodox faithful in the city. A cross is to be planted at the construction site latter this month, whilst the new church's dome is already being made in Russia. The church is to be dedicated to St. George. More here.

I cannot help saying how excited I am that the Russians are building a church in Addis! Metropolitan Petros (Giakoumelos) of Axum of the Alexandrian Orthodox Church is a lovely man from what I know of him, but a prominent clergyman at his cathedral in Addis has in the past made racist remarks about non-whites to Orthodox clergy and laity, including a clergyman who is not himself white.

I stopped attending the Alexandrian Orthodox cathedral because of the above and other issues the last time I was in Ethiopia and so I am so excited by the possibility that the next time I visit Addis I will have a church to worship in the Byzantine Rite at without my conscience burning every time I set foot in the place. Glory to God for all things!

Bulgarians in Macedonia Protest Archbishop's Remarks

Following comments by Archbishop Stefan (Veljanovski) of Ohrid of the schismatic Macedonian Orthodox Church that ethnically Macedonian Spaska Mitrova's Bulgarian citizenship makes her one of the "dregs of society, traitors and freaks" Macedonia's Bulgarian Cultural Club (BCC), which represents Macedonians still aware of their Bulgarian heritage and identity, has demanded an apology from Archbishop Stefan. Should he not apologize the BCC will appeal to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church to restore its dioceses on the territory of independent Macedonia. More here.

Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Clarifies Past Statements

In an interview Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus sought to clarify his previous statements on Jews and other groups he views as threat to Greece, but in the process only reinforced the impressions given by his previous statements. More here.

Russian Judge Protests Strasbourg Ruling

A judge of the Constitutional Court of Russia has criticized a Strasbourg ruling calling Russia's ban on pride parades in Moscow a violation of the rights of the country's sexual minorities, implying that the events were banned for their organizers protection, not to violate their freedom of life or expression. More on the judge's comments can be found here.

Much of modern Russian society is strongly homophobic as well as racist and minorities of any variety face a variety of challenges in everyday life. Some progress has been made since the collapse of the USSR, but when I studied in central Russia in late 2006 my friends from Malaysia, Kenya, and other ethnically distinct regions were afraid to go out in public alone or even in pairs for fear of being beaten or killed. The treatment of women is also atrocious, being much closer to the norms of 1950s America than 21st century Europe.

I disagree with the judge's statements in principle, but the audacity of Moscow Pride's organizers amazes me still. Russia and Russian society have a long, long way before being non-Russian will be acceptable, much less being gay or lesbian...

Patriarch Kirill Calls for Restrictions on Xenophobic Organizations

Patriarch Kirill (Gundyayev) of Moscow has called on the Russian government, the various religions present in Russia, and his own Russian Orthodox Church to step up measures to restrict the activities and influence of fascist organizations in the country so that ethnic tensions already present in Russian society do not deepen and errupt into worse violence than has already occurred. More here.

Ethnic Violence in Moscow

Following this past Saturday's clashes in Moscow that resulted in 32 people being hospitalized and 66 arrested, the Russian Orthodox Church has called on efforts to reduce ethnic tensions in the city to be stepped up to prevent future outbreaks of violence against the city's large population of immigrants from the former Soviet republics in Transcaucasia and Central Asia. President Dmitriy Medvedev has also called for efforts to maintain public order to be stepped up. In the past year there have been 26 ethnically-motivated murders in Russia that were reported as such. More here.