Free Republic

Syria's Christians belong to one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, but chased away by the threat of violence some are heading for neighbouring Turkey, where they have been greeted with considerable enthusiasm. Driven by a deep and humble faith, Father Joaqim is a young man with a sense of destiny. He has returned from 11 years in Holland to revive his dying community in eastern Turkey. We are standing together on the terrace of his newly restored monastery, high on a remote escarpment near Nusaybin, looking south over the Mesopotamian Plain. "Thank God our community is alive...

AINA) -- The Antiochian Orthodox church of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus was a landmark of al-Thawrah (also known as al-Tabqah). It was an impressive, modern structure with a large yard, surrounded by a high wall and well-situated on a main street near the corniche -- a well landscaped area hugging the southern bank of Lake Assad which was popular with locals going on an evening stroll. Its elegant dome, surmounted by a cross, could be seen from all parts of the Third Quarter (also known as Hayy al-Ishtirakiyah), where it was located. Spiritually, this church was under the jurisdiction of...

Events in one Syrian town cast light on the nation’s strifeIlyas was, he told me, the very last Christian to flee Qusayr. He had been one of just a handful in the town to join the revolution — an odd thing for a Christian to do because the Free Syrian Army (FSA) were and are mostly Sunnis, and the Christians mostly sided with Assad. Still, it didn’t save him. One day he heard banging on the door and saw men with Kalashnikovs standing there. There were familiar faces, some he had known for years. He said: ‘They told me: “You’re...

Scarcely a day goes by now where we do not read of yet another in a constellation of initiatives being undertaken by both the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian government on behalf of persecuted Christians and other victims in Syria, Egypt, and elsewhere in the world. For instance, on July 31 it was announced that a charitable drive launched at the end of June by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia had raised US$1.3 Million to assist victims of the Syrian armed conflict. That these funds will be distributed through the auspices of both Orthodox Christian Patriarch John...

Pope Francis waves after leading the Angelus from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Aug. 4. (CNS photo/Stefano Rellandini, Reuters) (Aug. 5, 2013) By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When Pope Francis spoke to journalists about the need for a stronger Catholic pastoral approach to marriage and to divorced people, he made a parenthetical reference to how the Orthodox churches handle the breakup of marriages differently. “The Orthodox have a different practice,� he told reporters July 28 during his flight back to Rome from Rio de Janeiro. The Orthodox “follow...

Romania is in the middle of a church-building boom, with some 10 new places of worship completed every month, and one vast cathedral slowly taking shape. But some Romanians take issue with the expense, in one of Europe's poorest countries - and particularly the use of funds from the public purse. The church is restored, while a statue of Lenin is trampled underfoot (Mogosoaia Palace, 2009) To travel across the north of Romania from Suceava in Moldavia to Maramures is to be bamboozled by exquisite religious eye candy. Everywhere you look there are churches - big, small, medieval, brand new,...

To borrow from the musical group The Kinks, you know “it’s a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world” when Russian president Vladimir Putin becomes the leading voice for stopping the violent persecutions against Christians while the president of the United States stands silent. Speaking at a meeting with Orthodox Christian leaders in Moscow last week