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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