Free Republic

Moscow, January 13, Interfax -Legendary weapons constructor Mikhail Kalashnikov deceased in December wrote a letter to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and Russia half a year before his death, the Izvestia paper wrote on Monday. "My soul aches, it is unbearable, I face the same unsolvable question: if my gun killed people, then I, Mikhailo Kalashnikov, ninety three years old, a peasant's son, a Christian and Orthodox believer, is guilty in people's death, even if they were enemies," the edition quotes Kalashnikov's letter. Besides, his inner emotions, the letter also contains his thoughts about the future of the country and humanity....

The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople has convoked the leaders of all Orthodox Churches to prepare for the 2015 SynodThe Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew, has convoked a surprise meeting of the patriarchs and archbishops of all the Orthodox Churches at the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul this coming March. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the guidelines and time frame for the Preparatory Commission of the Pan-Orthodox Synod which is scheduled to take place in 2015. Nat da Polis revealed this in an article published by AsiaNews, in which he explains the underlying attempt on the part of Patriarch...

Moscow, January 10, Interfax - The human rights center of the World Russian People's Council supports the proposal of actor and priest Ivan Okhlobystin to return criminal liability for homosexuality. "The idea to return the criminal article for sodomy seems quite logical to me. The non-acceptance of homosexuality is a sign of healthy moral atmosphere in the society along with the rejection of racism and chauvinism," human rights center director, expert of Islam, Roman Silantyev, told Interfax-Religion on Friday. Homosexuals stopped being satisfied with the cancellation of the relevant article in the Soviet Criminal Code long ago and "are demanding...

Cry for Help from Young Woman Conceived with IVF I hate to start the new year with a sad post, but if we can help this young woman, it will be worth it. Her e-mail broke my heart. It is a cry for help from someone who mourns the loss of her siblings that didn't make it. It is also a look at the darker-side of IVF that no one wants to talk about: the massive loss of life inherent in the IVF process. She writes: I was wondering if you knew of any websites or resources that support people...

The embrace between Rome and Constantinople is renewed. But a document from the patriarchate of Moscow freezes the discussion between Catholics and Orthodox on the powers of the pope over the universal ChurchROME, January 8, 2014 – Exactly half a century since the embrace in Jerusalem between Paul VI and the patriarch of Constantinople, Athenagoras, Pope Francis has announced that he too will go to the Holy Land, next May 24-26, to repeat that ecumenical gesture with the successor of Athenagoras, Bartholomew. On Saturday, January 4, the eve of the anniversary, “L'Osservatore Romano" republished the complete text of the conversation...

Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Pope Francis will meet with Patriarch Bartholomew I in May. Courtesy Israel Ministry of Tourism. Pope Francis' pilgrimage to the Holy Land, to be held in May, will center on his encounter with Patriarch Bartholomew I, the Eastern Orthodox Archbishop of Constantinople, and their discussions on ecumenism. Announcing the trip Jan. 5, Pope Francis said its “principal goal” is “to commemorate the historic meeting between Pope Paul VI and the Patriarch Athenagoras I, that occurred … 50 years ago today.” That encounter was the beginning of ecumenical dialogue between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox...

Meeting to set guidelines and timeframe for Preparatory Commission of the Pan-Orthodox Synod . But also to highlight the need to go beyond "localisms" and undertake joint initiatives . Zizioulas: self-marginalization the greatest danger of the Christian world today .Istanbul (AsiaNews ) - The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has convoked the patriarchs and archbishops of all the Orthodox Churches to a meeting in Istanbul, next March, for an exchange of views on the guidelines and timeframe for the Preparatory Commission of the Pan-Orthodox Synod, scheduled for 2015. Thus far, most meetings have been dealt exclusively with procedural matters. The last meeting...

Up to 600,000 of Syria’s 2.2 million Christians have fled their homes and are now either refugees or internally displaced persons, according to Aid to the Church in Need. In all, 1.8 million Syrians have left their homes, the charity reported. “The number of Christians killed because they are targeted for their faith is growing,” said Father Andrzej Halemba, the charity’s Middle East projects coordinator. Referring to an October massacre, the priest said that “Sadad is a very clear case. They were slaughtered like animals.”

The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew, has convoked a surprise meeting of the patriarchs and archbishops of all the Orthodox Churches at the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul this coming March. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the guidelines and timeframe for the Preparatory Commission of the Pan-Orthodox Synod which is scheduled to take place in 2015. Nat da Polis revealed this in an article published by AsiaNews, in which he explains the underlying attempt on the part of Patriarch Bartholomew to bring the Orthodox Churches out of their isolation. “Orthodox circles see this as an attempt to move...

A Response to the Text on Primacy of the Moscow PatriarchateElpidophoros Lambriniadis Metropolitan of Bursa Professor of Theology, University of ThessalonikiIn a recent synodal decision,[1] the Church of Russia seems once again[2] to choose its isolation both from theological dialogue with the Catholic Church and from the communion of the Orthodox Churches. Two points are worth noting from the outset, which are indicative of the intent of the Church of Russia’s Synod: First, its desire to thwart the text of Ravenna,[3] claiming seemingly theological reasons to justify the absence of its delegation from the specific plenary meeting of the bilateral...

Tripoli (Lebanon) (AFP) - Hundreds of Lebanese took to the streets of the northern city of Tripoli on Saturday to protest the torching of a decades-old library owned by a Greek Orthodox priest. The demonstrators held up banners that read "Tripoli, peaceful town" and "This is contrary to the values ​​of the Prophet," in reference to the Muslim Prophet Mohammed. Assailants set alight the Saeh library belonging to Father Ibrahim Surouj on Friday night, destroying two-thirds of the 80,000 books and manuscripts it stored, a security official told AFP. The attack came a day after "a pamphlet was discovered inside...

First of all, we would like to thank all our readers and supporters who have contributed to Rescue Christians in 2013. In the final quarter of 2013 our fund-raising just took off and we raised $173,000 with over $85,000 being raised just in the month of December alone. Whether you could afford just a few dollars or gave us larger amounts, we truly appreciate your sacrifice and participation in this cause, which is a “Race against death”. We have been truly touched by the sacrifices of the many people who can least afford to help. I have had countless stories...

Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square Oct. 13. Credit: Lauren Cater / CNA Vatican City, Jan 5, 2014 / 09:47 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis has announced that he will make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land this coming May to mark a key moment in Catholic and Orthodox Christian relations. “In this atmosphere of joy, typical of this Christmas time, I wish to announce that from 24 to 26 (of) next May, God willing, I will carry out a pilgrimage in the Holy Land,” he said after the Jan. 5 Sunday Angelus to the crowds filling St. Peter’s Square....

For millennia the Catholic Church has consistently opposed unnatural vice. Here is a brief sampling of useful quotes from Saints, Doctors of the Church, Church Fathers and Ecclesiastical Writers who condemn homosexual vice in their writings. 1. Athenagoras of Athens (2nd Century) Athenagoras of Athens was a philosopher who converted to Christianity in the second century. He shows that the pagans, who were totally immoral, did not even refrain from sins against nature: "But though such is our character (Oh. why should I speak of things unfit to be uttered?), the things said of us are an example of the...

Amid recent terrorist attacks in Volgograd, a city of one million in southern Russia, a leading Russian Orthodox Church official has called upon the nation to do more to combat radical Islam. The Reuters news agency reported that militants are seeking to establish an Islamist state near Volgograd. “If the circulation of Nazi ideological clichés has been strictly limited or banned in certain cases, why not apply the same scheme to the radical interpretation of Islam rejected by most Muslims themselves?” said Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, the head of the Synodal Department for Church and Society Relations, according to an Interfax...

Christmas message of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia to the Archpastors, Pastors, Monastics and All the Faithful Children of the Russian Orthodox Church. Your Eminences the archpastors, honorable presbyters and deans, God-loving monks and nuns, dear brothers and sisters! Today our churches are filled with people who have come to praise the Newborn Child of God – Jesus Christ the Savior and the Most Pure Mother of our Lord – Virgin Mary. The Nativity was the climax of human history. Man has always been searching for God: but the Lord chose to reveal Himself in full...

I have called you to warning on your selfishness, but you ignored me. I have called you to account about your guns, that seems to have faired a bit better. I have called you several times to account about God's wraith, but that has been wholly ignored. Now I will give you the most blunt warning I know how to give. This is a call to arms to defend the one thing that still separates you from the Hell on Earth you are creating for yourselves and it is the one thing that you, as a wicked and decadent society,...

BAGHDAD (AP) -- Militants in Iraq targeted Christians in three separate Christmas Day bombings in Baghdad, killing at least 37 people, officials said Wednesday. In one attack, a car bomb went off near a church in the capital's southern Dora neighborhood, killing at least 26 people and wounding 38, a police officer said. Earlier, two bombs ripped through a nearby outdoor market simultaneously in the Christian section of Athorien, killing 11 people and wounding 21, the officer said. The Iraq-based leader of the Chaldean Catholic Church, Louis Sako, said the parked car bomb exploded after Christmas Mass and that none...

“In Him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1. 4,5) We, the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem, share with you the joy of this Christmas season of the Incarnation. Our physical closeness to the town of Bethlehem where this took place is a constant reminder to us of its wonderful reality. We praise God for the Word made flesh in the person of Jesus Christ from the pure blood of the Blessed Virgin Mary and for her willingness to...

Moscow, December 23, Interfax - Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has expressed concerns about Islamists' activities in Moscow. "The increase in the number of migrants, primarily from Central Asia and the Caucasus, in Moscow has increased the risk of ethnic conflicts," the patriarch said at the Moscow Diocese assembly, according to the Moscow Patriarchate website. Many migrants have radical views and "are recruited by extremist and terrorist organizations, sometimes right in Moscow," the patriarch said, adding that such propaganda has intensified among Slavic youth, including in educational establishments, prisons, sports groups, and social networking sites. The patriarch said...