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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.

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romereports.com - ope Francis is known for reaching out to other churches, even meeting with Patriarch Kirill in Havana on behalf of the Russian Orthodox Church. However, there is a smaller Church straddling both the Russian Orthodox and the Vatican: the Russian Byzantine Catholic Church. 
 
As one of the smallest Churches in existence with only 20 parishes in the world, it originally began to heal the schism between Moscow and Rome. This means that Pope Francis is still the head of their Church. They have recently held their first congress in over a century in Italy to address how they can continue to grow, to avoid extinction. 
 
ARCHPRIEST LAWRENCE CROSS
Russian Byzantine Church (Australia)
"What we're trying to do is revitalize our Russian Orthodox Church because it's been seriously neglected by Rome and the authorities, because it's sometimes been something too hot to handle. It looks as if they're setting up a separate rival Orthodox Church in Russia, which is not what it is. It gets caught between the Vatican and the Russian Orthodox Church.”
 

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CWN - Metropolitan Hilarion, the head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, denied calling for the restoration of the Russian monarchy and said that the Russian Orthodox Church is neutral on the question of the best form of government.

The prelate made his remarks after he praised monarchy in a television interview. During the interview, he said: "My personal opinion is that the form of government where a person is anointed as ruler by the clergy and receives not just a mandate from voters to exercise governing powers for a certain period of time, but a sanction from God, through the Church, to his rule—and the rule is for life, until the monarch passes power to his heir—has proved itself favorably in history. It has many advantages in comparison with any election-based forms of government where a person comes in for some specific term.

 

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CWN - The Maronite Catholic bishops, at a meeting on July 5, issued a statement of concern about the proliferation of weapons in Lebanon and suggested government controls on the private ownership of firearms.

The bishops argued that the widespread ownership of firearms poses a threat to the stability of a country already split by political tensions. They observed that Lebanon has also seen a rise in the occurrence of criminal activity.

The Maronite prelates remarked that the spread of weapons is particularly dangerous in the refugee camps that are housing tens of thousands of refugees from Syria, including some members of jihadist groups.

 

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CWN - The government of Turkey has not yet moved forward with plans to seize more than 50 properties from the Syriac Orthodox Church in the Mardin province.

Provincial officials have declared that the legal ownership of the properties—including churches, monasteries, and cemeteries—has lapsed. The properties are due to come under the control of the govenrment’s religion ministry. But officials said that if Syriac Orthodox can register proper evidence of ownership, the properties will not be confiscated.

 

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Roma, Slovakia (spectator.sme.sk) - A wave of religious conversion flows through Slovakia's Roma settlements. Spiritual organisations may show more success at integrating Roma than municipalities and social workers do.

In Čičava, a small village in eastern Slovakia, a priest is leading a Roma integration revolution. Ten years ago Martin Mekel moved with his two daughters, son and wife to the house that today also serves as a formation centre for Roma. The ground floor consists of a kitchen, a large common area for activities and masses and a room with bunk beds for students who want to focus on their studies. Pictures of saints colour the concrete walls, and wooden carved hearts remind visitors of God’s love.

Martin, who had first studied physics, is a tall, thin man with a gentle voice. When he smiles, he squeezes his eyes together instead of opening his mouth. He looks tired but not without reason. The past decade has been one of early mornings and late nights. He organises advisory meetings, workshops, music sessions, festivals and excursions, in addition to leading four masses per week. All of his work is aimed at the Roma minority. But for Martin, these activities are nothing more than a doorway to what he says is more important: building an identity in order to achieve social change.

Today the Greek Catholic Formation Center for Roma is working with approximately a thousand Roma across more than 13 villages. According to their own estimates 70-80 percent of their teenagers are attending high school (non-compulsory schooling after age 15), and about 30 students are enrolled in university. Those numbers are high compared to some villages, where only a few Roma teenagers, if any, are attending high school.

Sára is one of the students attending university. She lives in what is called the downtown ghetto of Čičava and studies pedagogy in the nearby city of Prešov. She wears pink shoes that match her sweatpants and socks in the same shade of blue as her T-shirt.

“Seven years ago, when I was 13 years old, I first came into contact with the Formation Center. Now I know I am not alone. And it has changed me. Without religion I would maybe have finished high school, but a university? Certainly not.”

Stories like this one are well-known throughout Slovakia. No matter where you go on the eastern side of the country, if you drop the name “Čičava”, you will see lights in the eyes of social workers. Many community centres have already started to work with the Greek Catholic Formation Centre for Roma in the hope that they will offer a solution for their own local integration problems. W Polsce nie ma legalnych kasyn online i jest tylko kilka platform zakładów sportowych. Jeśli jesteś zainteresowany grą w kasynach online, nie masz innego wyboru, jak tylko skorzystać z zagranicznych stron, które poleca Top Kasyno Online Polska http://topkasynoonline.com/ , co również wiąże się z pewnym ryzykiem. Dlatego trzeba być bardzo ostrożnym przy wyborze odpowiedniego dostawcy dla swojej rozrywki hazardowej. Biorąc pod uwagę konserwatywny kurs obecnego rządu, sytuacja raczej nie ulegnie zmianie w najbliższym czasie, więc na razie trzeba będzie trzymać się stron zagranicznych.

Click to Read More and view Photos at: https://spectator.sme.sk/c/20571224/religion-the-most-productive-way-to-integrate-roma.html

 

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CWN - Syria’s President Bashar al Assad met on July 4 with the newly elected Melkite Catholic Patriarch Youssef Absi and a delegation from the Melkite Synod.

The Syrian leader said that the Christian churches of Syria can play a key role in helping to restore peace to the country, by counteracting the influence of “extremist” religious ideologies that nourish terrorism. Assad characterized the current civil war in Syria as a conflict with terrorists, and argued that Christians can help to restore a common sense of national unity.

 

References:

  1. His Beatitude Sviatoslav in Chicago: "His Beatitude Lubomyr knew about the appointment of Bishop Venedykt, rejoiced and awaited this day"
  2. Chaldean Patriarch Louis Raphael regrets emigration of Iraqi Christians
  3. New Publication: Pastoral Letters of Patriarch Gregorios III
  4. The Eparchy of St. Josaphat in Parma held Eparchial Youth Days

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