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Bartholomew I / Pope Benedict Vatican City, Nov 30, 2009 / 09:55 pm (CNA).- Pope Benedict XVI reached out to Bartholomew I and the Eastern Church Monday in his annual letter to the Patriarch celebrating the Feast of St. Andrew. The message encouraged continued ecumenical talks towards unification of the churches of the East and West and "openness to the Holy Spirit" to guide them in the process.   The letter was delivered to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Istanbul, Bartholomew I, by way of a Papal delegation led by the President of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity Cardinal Walter...

BELGRADE, Serbia — Patriarch Pavle, who led Serbia's Christian Orthodox Church through its post-Communist revival and called for peace and conciliation during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s, died Sunday. He was 95. There have been reports of an internal struggle over who would succeed Pavle, a respected theologian and linguist known for personal humility and modesty. The favorite is influential Bishop Amfilohije, a hard-liner known for his anti-Western and ultra-nationalist stands. The seven-million member church said its highest body, the Holy Synod, could announce Monday when Pavle's successor will be chosen. At least 40 days must pass after Pavle's...

MOSCOW, May 22 (RIA Novosti) - The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church spoke of the importance of meekness during a service on Friday in central Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral to commemorate St. Nicholas' Day. St. Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, fishermen, children, travelers, the falsely accused and the sick, as well as of the cities of Bari, Amsterdam and Liverpool. He is also the archetype for the British and U.S. version of Santa Claus. He is especially venerated in Russia. On Friday, the Russian Orthodox Church marks the day when the relics of St. Nicholas the...

His first message to the faithful - and to the world as millions watched by television and internet - emphasized his commitment to reaching out to the young, his dedication to working with those whom he called the “sister churches” and his strong intention to combat “moral relativism”. Each of these is, of course, being received with great hope and optimism by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. They echo so clearly the missionary mindset and urgent mission of his own Papacy. Finally, they signal to millions of Christian faithful the goodness of God in his response to their prayers. Polls...

MOSCOW, January 27 (RIA Novosti) - Metropolitan Kirill has been elected head of the Russian Orthodox Church, becoming the 16th Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. Kirill received 508 votes, and the second candidate, Metropolitan Kliment of Kaluga and Borovsk - 169 votes. A total of 700 ballots were cast in the vote, with 23 recognized as invalid. The Local Council, which is a council of bishops, priests, monks and laymen, including political figures and businessmen, gathered in Moscow earlier on Tuesday to elect the new Russian Orthodox Church leader. The 700-plus-member group convened for a session to elect a...

Patriarch-elect Kirill Moscow, Jan 27, 2009 / 05:21 pm (CNA).- Meeting in Moscow today, the Russian Orthodox Church has elected Metropolitan Kirill as its new patriarch. Patriarch-elect Kirill’s election is being hailed as a boon for those seeking to buttress Orthodoxy against a spreading secularism. According to the Associated Press, Metropolitan Kirill received 508 of the 700 votes cast.  Prior to today’s election, Metropolitan Kirill was the most well-known candidate, having served as the head of the External Affairs Office for the Moscow patriarchate. Since the death of Patriarch Alexy II on December 5, 2008, he has functioned as the...

Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad has been elected the new head of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Council, which comprised clergymen, monks and laymen, announced on Tuesday the results of the voting for the post of Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia. Kirill has been temporarily in charge of the church since the death in December of Aleksy the Second. Kirill had previously been head of the external church relations department. He also hosted a TV programme popular among Russian believers and viewed on one of Russia’s main television channels. Kirill was an active supporter of the reunification between...

MOSCOW, January 25 (RIA Novosti) - The Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church announced on Sunday a shortlist of three candidates to elect a new leader following the death of Patriarch Alexy II last year. Patriarch Alexy II, who led the revival of Orthodoxy in the country after the demise of communism, died of heart failure at the age of 79 in December 2008. Kirill, Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, was chosen by the Holy Synod as interim patriarch. The shortlist includes Metropolitans Kirill, Kliment and Filaret. Senior members of the Russian Orthodox Church met at the Christ...

(Google Translation) The Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II has died, reported RIA Novosti on Friday from a source in the Moscow Patriarchate. Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad urgently left the meeting the World Russian People's Cathedral of Christ the Savior Cathedral, reports RIA Novosti correspondent.

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 19, 2008 (Zenit.org).- One of the topics mentioned in a good number of the synod presentations was that of the saints and blessed who offer the Church concrete examples of lives rooted in the sacred Scriptures and the living Word of God. When Archbishop Angelo Amato, the new prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes, addressed the synod Tuesday, he offered a very graphic image of lives rooted in the sacred Scriptures: For more than 2,000 years men and women, old and young, wise and ignorant, in the East as in the West, applied themselves to the...

In this picture made available by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, patriarch Bartholomew, at far right seated, prays with Pope Benedict XVI, at far left, in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, Saturday Oct. 18, 2008. Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Ecumenical patriarch Bartholomew is calling it "an historic event," after being the first to speak to the bishops of the Catholic Church gathered for a synod. For his part, Benedict XVI said, "Your fathers are also our fathers, and ours are yours: if we have the same fathers, how can we...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The patriarch of the Melkite Catholic Church, who lives in Syria, and the Latin-rite patriarch of Jerusalem invited members of the Synod of Bishops on the Bible to visit them and discover how living in the land of the Bible can make its words come alive. Melkite Patriarch Gregoire III Laham of Damascus, Syria, and Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal of Jerusalem addressed the synod Oct. 10, extending invitations but also talking about some of the challenges Christians in the Holy Land are facing. Patriarch Laham told the synod: "The word of God unites us; it reinforces...

Holy Mass has begun in Rome at St. Peter’s Basilica for the feast of Sts. Peter & Paul. The old new form of papal pallium is being used.   The Holy Father has shifted away from the archeologically correct, but odd, ancient form of pallium which Benedict XVI began to use at the time of his "inauguration" in April 2005.  This new but still ancient form of pallium represents an organic midway point between the lond, drapy stole-like pallium and the modern style, used by all the modern popes until Benedict XVI and which is still imposed by the Pope on...

Reports are circulating, in circles which are intensely attuned to the continued warming of relations between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches, of a statement and proposal allegedly made by Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople. If they are confirmed, it may signal a major move toward communion between Eastern Catholics and their Orthodox Brethren.It may also open the path to dialogue on communion between the Churches even wider. The Religious Information Service of the Ukraine, associated with the Ukranian Catholic University, was cited as one source for the articles. Another was a German Ecumenical Journal named after the great Bishops Cyril...

Philadelphia might've waited 24 years for John Foley's red hat, but between the rivers in what's now Iraq, generations of the Chaldean Catholic community have stood it out a good bit longer to see their patriarch take a place in the papal senate. Eighty-one years old, Cardinal-designate Emmanuel III Delly will formally be inducted into the Sacred College at the upcoming consistory. (No, the patriarch of Babylonia of the Chaldeans isn't the first of the designates to be photographed in the robes of his new office -- the red get-up is a privilege of patriarchs, even those who go...

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 2, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI told the newly enthroned patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church that he can count on collaboration from Catholics. The Pope sent a delegation to Bucharest on Sunday to participate in the solemn enthronement celebrations of Patriarch Daniel Ciobotea, the new leader of 19 million Romanian Orthodox. The Vatican delegation was led by Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and included Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the same dicastery, and Archbishop Jean-Claude Périsset, apostolic nuncio to Romania. As a "pledge to search for full communion," Cardinal Kasper...

ROMA, August 7, 2007 – At the end of last week’s general audience, Benedict XVI surprisingly dedicated a thought to a sports event, the victory of Iraq’s soccer team in the Asian Cup: “I was pleasantly startled by the enthusiasm that spread among all the inhabitants, driving them into the streets to celebrate the event. As on so many occasions I have wept with the Iraqis, this time I rejoice with them. This experience of shared celebration reveals the desire of a people to have a normal and peaceful life. I hope that the event can contribute to realizing...

A group of ex army officers, now retired, plotted to assassinate the ecumenical Patriarch: this is what has emerged from an investigation carried out by Istanbul’s public attorney’s office, and brought to light by a report in Aksam newspaper. The group known as the Association of National Forces was led by Bekir Ozturk: the hard drive of his computer revealed the entire project which also consisted of the assassination of the Armenian Patriarch Mesrob and of a Jewish businessman. This network of retired army officials are believed to be in contact with diverse well rooted nationalist groups on Turkish soil.  What...

» 07/19/2007 11:40 TURKEYCharges against Bartholomew I for calling himself ecumenical patriarchA desire to influence how Christian minorities will vote is behind the charges filed by a former member of the Bulgarian exarchate. It shows how secular fundamentalism uses Islam. Istanbul (AsiaNews) – Two weeks after a Turkish court denied the Patriarchate of Constantinople the right to call himself ecumenical, Bartholomew I has come under attack once again by Bujidar Cipof, an ex-Church member of the Bulgarian exarchate of Constantinople which comes under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.Cipof has now filed charges against Patriarch Bartholomew, whose ‘crime’ is to...

28 May 2007, 12:17 Orthodox-Catholic Commission for Theological Dialogue to discuss primacy of the Pope of Rome and Patriarch of Constantinople at the meeting in October in Italy Vienna, May 28, Interfax - The Moscow Patriarchate intends to assert its own position in the discussion on the primacy of the Pope of Rome in Christendom at the second meeting of the Joint Orthodox-Catholic Theological Commission to take place in October in Ravenna, Italy. ‘Our principal affirmation is this: primacy in the Church is necessary, also on the universal level, but on the level of the Universal Church it cannot be...

28 December 2006, 11:25 Primate of the Orthodox Church in America joins with the Moscow Patriarchate in assessment of Bishop Basil (Osborne) Moscow, December 28, Interfax - Metropolitan Herman of All America and Canada expressed his solidarity with the Russian Orthodox Church in the assessment of actions of the former administrator of the Diocese of Sourozh Bishop Basil (Osborne) whom the Patriarchate of Constantinople received in its jurisdiction. ‘One of the important safeguards of church order has been the general observance (in the countries beyond the traditionally Orthodox lands - IF) of canonical norms with regard to transfers of clergy...

VATICAN CITY — In what theologians are describing as a highly significant gesture, Pope Benedict XVI and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople are considering a proposal to attend the next round of joint Catholic-Orthodox theological discussions in 2007. According to sources at the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the two leaders are examining the possibility of personally opening the next session of the Catholic-Orthodox Joint International Theological Commission, expected to be held in Ravenna, Italy. The panel of 60 experts has become the focus for improved Catholic-Orthodox relations after a successful meeting in Belgrade in September — the first time members...

BKIRKI: The Maronite Church signaled a significant shift from its resolute support for the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora on Wednesday by calling for the creation of a "reconciliation government" inclusive of all national parties.The call by Lebanon's most influential Christian institution came in a statement issued after a meeting of the Council of Maronite Bishops headed by Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir at Bkirki.Politicians must do "whatever is necessary" to end the political deadlock and mounting threats to security, the statement said, stressing that the decision should not be construed as a withdrawal of support for the embattled...

During the Divine Liturgy for the Feast of St. Andrew the Ecumenical Patriarch gave a homily that got my attention. Remember how important the Divine Liturgy is for the identity of the Orthodox. Frankly, I think liturgy is a serious issue for ecumenical dialogue with the East. Think about this. They look at the stupid things the Latins have done and are doing to the sacred liturgy, about how those desiring traditional liturgy from lay people to priests, are marginalized and berated. They see the leaders of a group of "traditionalists" are ecommunicated. And they are going to get closer...

The visit to the Ecumenical Patriarchate is the main reason for the Pope’s trip to Turkey on the Feast Day of Saint Andrew. A joint statement is expected tomorrow. Istanbul is under tight security.Istanbul (AsiaNews) – Magnificent Greek chants, embraces, statements about mutual commitment to continue working for full unity filled the meeting which Benedict XVI called a moment “of good will and ecclesiastic meaning”. At the end of the second day of his visit to Turkey, Benedict XVI arrived in the Phanar district, seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the first “in honour” amongst Orthodox patriarchate. It...

Christians must travel for 18 hours to participate in mass with Benedict XVI in Ephesus. The pontiff’s words in yesterday’s Angelus about the “dear Turkish people” have been described by the media as a “warm and friendly message”. Ankara (AsiaNews) – Responding to the appeal of Benedict XVI, tonight all Catholic communities in Turkey will hold prayer vigils to accompany and welcome the pope throughout his trip to Turkey. Yesterday, after recital of the Angelus, the pontiff asked the faithful to accompany him in prayer so that “this pilgrimage may bear all the fruits that God desires”. Heartened by the...

Important for Our Country, Says Bartholomew I ISTANBUL, Turkey, NOV. 17, 2006 (Zenit.org).- The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, awaits Benedict XVI's visit to Turkey with "fraternal love," says the Orthodox patriarchate. The Orthodox patriarch will receive the Pope on Nov. 29-30 at the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul. Benedict XVI's three-day visit to Istanbul comes at the personal invitation of the Orthodox patriarch on the occasion of the feast day of St. Andrew the Apostle, the older brother of St. Peter. St. Andrew traveled across Asia Minor and is considered the founder of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, present-day...

16 November 2006, 14:47 The Constantinople Patriarchate representatives concelebrated with the excommunicated Filaret Denisenko Moscow, November 16, Interfax - The U.S. clergymen of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) of the Patriarchate of Constantinople concelebrated with the excommunicated leader of the Kievan Patriarchate Filaret Denisenko unrecognized in the Orthodox world. With consent of metropolitan Konstantin Bagan and bishop Vsevolod Maidansky of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, Denisenko celebrated a requiem service for the soldiers of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army that fought on the Fascists’ side during the Great Patriotic War and also for the victims of ‘golodomor’ (starvation) of the 1932-33. Filaret...

Set up in 1842, the school was de facto shut down in 1971, because only Turkish young people of Orthodox faith can attend, and there are too few of them. The patriarchate hopes the visit of Benedict XVI may help obtain respect for religious freedom and minority rights. Istanbul (AsiaNews) – This year, the wiring was redone after the old wooden windows were replaced by aluminium ones last year; the walls are painted in pretty old rose and white colours; the benches are writing desks: high, carved in black wood, with tops that open and inlaid wooden chairs. Empty. There...

Interview With Bishop L. Padovese, Apostolic Vicar of Anatolia ROME, SEPT. 26, 2006 (Zenit.org).- The apostolic vicar of Anatolia believes that Benedict XVI's visit to Turkey in November might be a unique occasion to give a clear address on relations between Islam and Christianity. In this interview with ZENIT last Friday, Bishop Luigi Padovese, 59, an assiduous scholar of the Church in Turkey, sketched a picture of the state of that country, destination of the Pope's fifth apostolic trip abroad. As apostolic vicar of Anatolia, he has been threatened and, four months ago, a motorcyclist tried to run over him....

Muslim militias have forced Christians to pin up posters condemning the words of Benedict XVI in Regensburg. But religious leaders, including al Sistani, have expressed their friendship with the Apostolic Nunciature. And the representative of the Iraqi Shiite leader would like to meet the pope. Baghdad (AsiaNews) – The start of the month of Ramadan in Iraq was marked by violence but also by significant openness by al Sistani towards the Vatican. Yesterday, two churches, one in Baghdad and another in Mosul, were struck. Recently, the country has seen an escalation of attacks against Christians, thought by some to be...

Whereas Turkey began accession negotiations with the European Union on October 3, 2005; (Introduced in House) HRES 999 IH 109th CONGRESS 2d Session H. RES. 999Urging Turkey to respect the rights and religious freedoms of the Ecumenical Patriarch. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES September 12, 2006 Mrs. MALONEY (for herself, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. HINCHEY, Ms. WATSON, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mrs. LOWEY, and Mr. BACA) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations RESOLUTIONUrging Turkey to respect the rights and religious freedoms of the Ecumenical Patriarch. Whereas Turkey...

Patriarch Bartholomeos I, the Istanbul-based Christian Orthodox leader, says he remains confident the Pope will visit Muslim-majority Turkey as planned in November despite the furore about the pontiff's speech in Germany – writes Bernadette Sauvaget for Ecumenical News International. "The Turkish people are very hospitable, but most probably national and fanatical groups will hold demonstrations against the visit," the patriarch told a group of French religious affairs journalists on 17 September 2006 who were visiting his official headquarters in Istanbul, which was once the Byzantine Christian capital of Constantinople. "They will continue to call on the government not to welcome...

BEIRUT: Lebanon's top religious figures called on the international community to end its silence over the Israeli hostilities in the country. Vice president of the Higher Shiite Council Sheikh Abdel-Amir Qabalan called Monday for an international investigation into the Qana massacre.During an emergency meeting of the council Monday, Qabalan called for an immediate end of Israeli hostilities against Lebanon and urged all the Lebanese to unite and support the resistance.Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani met Monday with Iranian Ambassador Mahmoud Rida Shibani, who condemned the Qana massacre and the "international silence over the continuous Israeli hostilities."Earlier in the day,...

MOSCOW (Interfax) – Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and all Russia hopes for considerable rapprochement with the Roman Catholic Church, noting the positive role being played by Pope Benedict XVI. ”The key of our relations has changed with the new pontificate,” the patriarch said. “In his first address Benedict XVI said that the improvement of relations with the Orthodox churches was a priority of his ministry,” Alexy II said in an interview with the Russian television station, Pervyi canal. He also expressed his hope for the problems that have complicated interchurch relations to be solved under the new...

Lebanese Maronite Christian Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir (L) steps out of a helicopter in the U.S embassy in Awkar, in north Beirut, July 20, 2006 as he returns from his visit to the U.S.. A tiny U.S. Marine force landed in Lebanon on Thursday to evacuate Americans stranded by a nine-day-old Israeli bombardment, which has killed more than 300 people but failed to stop Hizbollah rocket strikes on Israel. REUTERS/George Abdallah (LEBANON) BKIRKI: A newly returned Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir said Thursday that US officials are "concerned" about Lebanon and "eager" to end the violence under "reasonable and acceptable...

Washington DC, Jul. 20, 2006 (CNA ) - United States Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice said the international community must help Lebanon apply United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559, which affirms its call for the strict respect of Lebanon’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity, and political independence under the sole and exclusive authority of the Government of Lebanon throughout the country. “I'm very concerned about the people of Lebanon, about Lebanon's freedom and democracy and a Lebanon where all Lebanese can prosper,” Rice told Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir yesterday. The Maronite patriarch was in Washington, wrapping up his one-month visit to the...

Wednesday, July 19, 2006; B03 In English and in Arabic, shedding tears and sweat, Washington's Lebanese Catholics prayed yesterday for peace in their homeland, filling a new white church at noon on a sweltering workday.Catholics are the largest Christian community in Lebanon, and the special Mass at Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Church was celebrated by Cardinal Nasrallah P. Sfeir, considered one of the most influential leaders of the country's Christians. Nasrallah was in the United States this month when the violence began and spent his last day -- yesterday -- speaking about the holy nature of peacemaking."Are there no...

Patriarch Nassrallah Pierre Sfeir, the head of the Maronite Catholic Church, asked for prayers for the people of Lebanon during a July 13 press conference in Massachusetts. The Maronite patriarch, Lebanon's most prominent Church leader, spoke to reporters as he concluded a trip to the US, during which he sought to increase awareness of his country's problems. Thanking American leaders for their support, he said that "the Lebanese are determined to live far from terrorism, tyranny, corruption, and despair." Saying that he is "very concerned and anxious" for Lebanon in the light of this week's new violence, Cardinal Sfeir condemned...

Konigstein, Jul. 12, 2006 (CNA) - According to Bishop Luigi Padovese, Apostolic Vicar of the Diocese of Anatolia, Turkey, the stabbing of a Catholic priest has exposed a media-led campaign to undermine the success of the Pope’s trip to the country. Turkey’s beleaguered Christian population of barely 100,000 were shocked after the elderly French Father Pierre Brunissen was knifed - allegedly by a schizophrenic - in the northern port city of Samsun last week. It was the sixth attack on a Churchman in as many months. Speaking to Aid to the Church in Need earlier this week, Bishop Padovese said...

LAWRENCE - At Lawrence Municipal Airport, children and adults held flower bouquets and waved Lebanese flags as they waited for a very important person - Patriarch Nasrallah Peter Cardinal Sfeir.Sfeir, head of the Maronite Church worldwide, was making a historic stop in Lawrence during a tour of the United States."It was like a piece of Lebanon coming to us," said Dalia Abourjeili, 16, of Methuen. The Methuen High School student attended with her mother, Hiam.Michelle Bou-Mitri, 20, also was at the airport. "I wanted to show him our hospitality and welcome. We look up to him as our spiritual leader,"...

Mar Nasrallah Pierre Cardinal Sfeir Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and All the East Beirut (AsiaNews) –Syria might have pulled its army out of Lebanon, but it has left its secret services. It has “friends” in the country and anyone can draw his own conclusions from that, said Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir who answered US reporters’ questions in Chicago yesterday about developments following last year’s assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and Syria’s withdrawal under international pressure.The cardinal, who is in the United States on a visit to local Maronite communities, reiterated his views about Hezbollah, namely that when...

LAWRENCE, Mass., July 5 /PRNewswire/ -- In his only stop in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, His Beatitude and Eminence Nasrallah Peter Cardinal Sfeir, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, will pay an historic visit to St. Anthony's Maronite Church in Lawrence, MA July 12-14.The visit, part of an approximately month long tour of Maronite religious communities in the United States, marks the first time that Cardinal Sfeir has visited St. Anthony church in Lawrence, MA, and is only the fourth time that a Maronite patriarch has journeyed to the United States.Cardinal Sfeir will arrive at Lawrence Airport on the...

BEIRUT: Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir expressed his gratitude at being presented with the key to America's "gateway to the West" at St. Raymond's Maronite Cathedral in St. Louis Thursday.The prelate led a service at the Cathedral in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the first Maronite bishopric in the US."Our meeting today confirms the Maronite Church is still active in this bright cathedral," he said. "I am glad to see your families' dreams growing and coming true through the generations." Sfeir also expressed his happiness to see that recent Lebanese and Middle Eastern expatriates have found...

VATICAN CITY, JUNE 30, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Here is the address Benedict XVI delivered Thursday to members of a delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, led by Metropolitan Ioannis Zizioulas of Pergamum, who came to Rome on the occasion of the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul. * * * Dear Brothers in Christ, With great joy and sincere affection in the Lord, I welcome today your eminence, Metropolitan Ioannis, and the other members of the delegation that his holiness Bartholomew I and the Holy Synod of the ecumenical patriarchate have graciously sent for the feast of Sts. Peter and...

Program about the ordination of only the second American born bishop in the history of the Maronite Catholic Church Sunday May 28, 2006 10:00 PM Tuesday May 30, 2006 2:00 PM Friday June 2, 2006 4:00 AM

Every Melkite faithful knows that the head of the Melkite Catholic Church is the Patriarch, at the present time Gregory III (Laham). The role of the Patriarch is not always well understood when it comes to the situation of Melkites who are living outside the Middle East, the historical seat of the Patriarchate of Antioch. According to the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), the Patriarch is the “Father and Head” of the Melkite Church. As Patriarch, he enjoys full authority over all the bishops, priests, deacons, religious and lay faithful of the Melkite Church according to the norm...

ROME (AFP) - Three Italian soldiers and a Romanian serving in Iraq have been killed when a bomb ripped through their convoy near Nasiriyah in the south of the country, the Italian defence ministry revealed. The ministry had earlier said that three soldiers had been killed, but a fourth died in hospital shortly after the attack. Leaders across the political spectrum in Italy condemned the attack, which occurred on the eve of the first meeting of parliament following a divisive general election. Outgoing Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who had maintained Italian troops in Iraq in the face of strong public...

Bishop Naguib Replaces Cardinal Stephanos II Gatas VATICAN CITY, APRIL 3, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Retired Bishop Antonios Naguib of Minya of the Copts was elected new patriarch of Alexandria of the Catholic Copts. The new patriarch is replacing Cardinal Stephanos II Ghattas, 86, who had presented his resignation to Benedict XVI, the Vatican press office announced today. The new patriarch, 71, was elected by the Synod of Bishops of the Catholic Coptic Church, meeting in St. Joseph's Convent of the Egyptian Sisters of the Sacred Heart in Cairo on March 20, as established by the Code of Canons of the Eastern...

ROME, MARCH 27, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Chaldean Patriarch Emmanuel III Delly of Baghdad has proposed April 3-4 as days of fasting and prayer for peace in Iraq. Auxiliary Bishop Shlemon Warduni read the patriarch's appeal on Sunday, during a visit to the Italian city of Gallipoli. "We have estranged ourselves from God by our deeds," wrote the patriarch in the message, which was reported by Italian bishops' SIR news service; "we do not obey his will, and we have moved away from piety and virtue, from forgiveness, and because of this the blood of so many brothers has been shed and...