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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
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risu.org.ua - For five days (29 August - September 2, 2015) 140 Orthodox hierarchs of the Ecumenical Patriarchate from all over the world gathered in Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey) in order to participate in a Synaxis (Assembly) of the Hierarchs of the Ecumenical Patriarchate convened upon the invitation and under the Presidency of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
In his opening remarks, and also in various discussions and meetings with the hierarchs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA and Canada, His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew voiced his prayerful concern over the ecclesiastical division in Ukraine and pointed to the responsibility of the Church to care for Her sacred flock.
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CWN - The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has imposed the jizya, or special tax on non-Muslims, on the Christians of the central Syrian town of al-Qaryatayn, according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights and Avvenire, the Italian Catholic newspaper.
The militant group captured the town on August 5 and subsequently destroyed the fifth-century Monastery of St. Elian, desecrating the relics of the saint.
In levying the jizya, the Islamic State also imposed 13 conditions on the town’s Christians, including bans on the possession of weapons and the establishment of churches and monasteries.
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- Siria, il “pizzo” all'Is è «contratto di protezione» (Avvenire)
- The Christians of al-Qaryatain City have to make a choice whether to pay “Jizya” or enter to Islam (Syrian Observatory of Human Rights)
- Abo Baker al- Baghdadi gives conditional “safety” for the Christians of al- Qaryatian and makes a contract with them after a year and half of making another one with the Christians of al- Raqqa (Syrian Observatory of Human Rights)
- Islamic State destroys ancient monastery, desecrates saint’s tomb (CWN, 8/24)
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CWN - The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and KAICIID, an interreligious-dialogue initiative founded by Austria, Saudi Arabia, and Spain, are sponsoring a conference in Athens on September 2 and 3 on the plight of Syrian and Iraqi Christians.
“It is essential for religious leaders from all faiths and denominations to speak with one voice, and address this current crisis to preserve the endangered communities,” said Metropolitan Emmanuel of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, who serves on KAICIID’s board of directors.
“Christian communities have lived in this region for over 2,000 years and contribute to all aspects of Middle Eastern societies,” he added. “Their loss would be a catastrophe for coexistence and the region as a whole.”
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CWN - In a meeting with the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow criticized the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church as well as Orthodox churches in Ukraine that are not in communion with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.
“Our Church, unlike the Greek Catholic Church and schismatic groups, does not support any of the conflict parties” in Ukraine today, Patriarch Kirill said during their meeting in Moscow. “We believe our mission is that of reconciliation.”
“I know the real Ukrainian people: they firmly adhere to Orthodoxy and stay faithful to their Mother – the Russian Orthodox Church,” Coptic Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria said in response, according to the Moscow Patriarchate.
Both Patriarch Kirill and Pope Tawadros II emphasized the missionary nature of their churches.
“It is necessary to enlighten peoples on the vast Eurasian continent who have not yet become Christian,” said Patriarch Kirill, who also spoke of the “need to carry out today a new mission among people who are traditionally Orthodox but who still remain uninitiated to the church and sometimes even unbaptized.”
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CWN - As Ukraine prepares for local elections on October 25, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, reminded priests that Church and state have a “clear division of spheres of competence.”
Priests are forbidden to speak on behalf of a “candidate, party, or political alliance,” post signs in church yards, or distribute campaign materials on church property, according to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church’s information department.
They are permitted, however, to “encourage people to perform their social obligation in obedience to their conscience” and to utter prayers for a just election if the prayers have been approved by ecclesiastical authority.
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CWN - 140 bishops of the Patriarchate of Constantinople traveled from Greece, the United States, and other nations to Istanbul to mark the beginning of the Orthodox liturgical year and discuss the pan-Orthodox council, which will take place in 2016.
The prelates also discussed bioethics, interreligious dialogue, and the environment, according to Turkish media reports.
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