News
Byzcath.org News provides news focusing on the Christian East from varous sources and offers links to other sites dedicated to providing the news about the Church.
Churches and organizations that provide news about the Eastern Churches are invited to submit their news stories to us for publication here (use the contact page for submission)..
Materials from the Vatican Information Service, Zenit, CWNews.com and other sources are published here with permission of their owners but may not be republished further without the permission of their original publishers. Please visit these sites to obtain additional general news about the Church. In addition to these sources EWTN News also provides a good general news summary.
Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
- Details
CWN - New attacks by the Islamic State have driven thousands of Christians from their homes around Sadad, Syria.
Archbishop Selwanos Boutros Alnemeh of Homs told Aid to the Church in Need that the Christian residents of Sadad fled their homes after the Islamic State seized a nearby village and massed its forces against the town. If Sadad falls, the archbishop said, “We would lose the center of Christianity in our diocese.”
About 15,000 people have reportedly sought shelter in Homs and other cities, leaving most of their family possessions behind in their haste to escape. Church leaders are struggling to find adequate temporary housing for the refugees.
Sadad has been a Christian stronghold for centuries. The people of the town still speak Aramaic, the language that Jesus used. “Its loss doesn’t bear contemplating,” said an aide to the archbishop. “We truly are fearing for our cultural heritage.”
References:
- Details
CWN - The head of the Russian Orthodox Church has encouraged his fellow Russians not to forget the positive achievements that took place in the 1920s through the 1940s, when Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin ruled the Soviet Union.
“There would not be modern Russia, if not [for the] heroism of the preceding generations, who in the 20s and the 30s not only turned up the soil, though it is also important, but founded industry, science and defense power of the country,” Patriarch Kirill of Moscow said on November 4, according to the Interfax news agency.
At the same time, “where there was blood, injustice, and sufferings, we say that it is unacceptable for us, people of the 21st century,” the leader of the largest of the Orthodox churches said.
References:
- Details
Shenandoan, PA — The oldest Ukrainian Catholic parish in the country is getting a makeover.
Usually there isn’t scaffolding in the middle of the pews at this church in Shenandoah, but St. Michael’s Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is getting some needed repairs.
For years, the domes at the church have been leaking and the lighting wasn’t energy efficient but that’s changing.
“We had to start first with our roof and our domes because that’s where most of the water leakage was coming from,” explained Msgr. Myron Grabowsky.
- Details
CWN - Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, who holds a primacy of honor among the Eastern Orthodox churches, has concluded a two-day visit to Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, who holds a similar primacy in the Anglican Communion.
“The two leaders led prayers for all people risking their lives fleeing from conflict, violence and persecution, and those whose existence is threatened by climate change,” according to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s website.
The ecumenical patriarch also delivered a lecture on the environment.
References:
- Details
CWN - The head of the Russian Orthodox Church has decried Halloween parties at Russian nightclubs during a time of national mourning that followed the crash of a Russian passenger plane in northern Sinai.
“I was stunned by a report that certain nightclubs and other entertainment facilities celebrated a festival called Halloween, which is not ours and is hardly understandable for us, in the early hours of this morning,” said Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, according to the Interfax news agency.
“Let us pray for God not to punish these people and for love and compassion to fill the hearts of our people, so that no desire to earn money should give people a moral exemption to cross the line which may not be crossed,” he added.
References:
- Details
CWN - Pope Francis received Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov in audience at the Apostolic Palace on October 31.
Ivanov is president of the Republic of Macedonia, a nation sometimes known the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in order to distinguish it from the Greek region of Macedonia.
According to the Holy See Press Office, the Pontiff and the Macedonian president expressed “their hope for the realization of the country’s aspirations and increasing efforts to join the European Union” and “recognized the importance of further encouraging the coexistence of and dialogue between the various ethnic and religious groups” in the nation, which is 65% Eastern Orthodox and 33% Muslim.
The two also discussed political, economic, and social issues, including the European refugee crisis.
References: