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Last Updated: 15 August 2015

DANBURY — Very little remains of the original St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church after a fire ripped through the Pembroke Road structure two years ago.

“A few things survived,” said Stephen Russo, deacon at the church. “Not much, but the presence was there throughout and that gave us hope.”

Flames engulfed the roof, causing it to collapse onto the tabernacle, where the chalice for communion is kept. Once the bronze box cooled and was moved to a safe place, members of the congregation opened it to discover the chalice rested in the exact center of the white silk interior, both in pristine condition. A painted, wooden Jesus was untouched by the flames that burned and charred the cross it hangs on.

There were signs that gave the congregation hope they would have their church back one day, Russo said.

Read more at: http://www.newstimes.com/printpromotion/article/Danbury-church-destroyed-by-fire-starts-new-6445052.php

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Last Updated: 14 August 2015

CWN - The Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople has convened an assembly of all the bishops of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, to be held August 29- September 2.

The main purpose of the meeting will be to prepare for a Pan-Orthodox Council, which is scheduled to take place in 2016. If it occurs on schedule, the Council would be an unprecedented meeting of all the world's Orthodox leaders.

However, the range of topics to be discussed at the Pan-Orthodox Council remains a subject of tense debate among Orthodox leaders. The Russian Orthodox Church has insisted that topics can be put on the agenda only with the support of all autocephalous Orthodox bodies. That rule would prevent discussion of the most troubling questions that divide the Orthodox world.

In a related development, a leading figure in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church allied with Moscow insisted that the splits within the Ukrainian Orthodox community cannot be discussed at the Council. "Currently there is no unity on this issue among the local churches," said Metropolitan Anthony Pakanych.

In a further indication of the tensions among the world's Orthodox prelates, Metropolitan Anthony charged that representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, in visiting Ukraine, had violated protocol by failing to seek prior permission from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church- Moscow Patriarchate, and by meeting instead with representatives of the rival Ukrainian Orthodox Church- Kyiv Patriarchate.

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Last Updated: 14 August 2015

CWN - Church bells throughout various French dioceses will ring out at noon on August 15, the Feast of the Assumption, to invite the faithful to gather and pray for persecuted Eastern Christians.

“When everything goes wrong, when one has nothing more, it is to the Virgin Mary that one turns,” said Archbishop Jean-Pierre Cattenoz of Avignon.

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Last Updated: 14 August 2015

CWN - Stating that 30% of Christians in Jerusalem and Bethlehem rely on pilgrimages for their livelihood, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem’s vicar for Israel called for more pilgrims to visit the Holy Land.

“Do you want to abandon the Holy Land to its destiny?” asked Bishop Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo. “Pilgrims, continue to come to the Holy Land! Here it is more secure than in Italy and in Europe! Free yourself from the fear that imprisons you, and come!”

There is a deep chasm, he added, between events in Syria, Iraq, Libya, and Tunisia and the atmosphere of peace in the Holy Land.

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Last Updated: 14 August 2015

CWN - Christians in central Syria are increasingly fearful after forces of the Islamic State abducted 230 Christian and Muslim residents of al-Qaryatayn, a local priest told Aid to the Church in Need.

“Does ISIS intend to negotiate and let the people go free, or does it intend to kill them? We don’t know,” said Father Jihad Youssef. “Normally they give Christians three options: they pay the Jizya tax, they convert to Islam, or they must leave the place. The last option was evidently not offered, or the Christians would have left.”

“Many people are thinking of leaving their homes, or even leaving the country,” he added, as the Islamic State expands from northeastern Syria to the central part of the nation. “The fear is growing.”

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Last Updated: 14 August 2015

CWN - The Church in Ukraine is still battling with the legacy of the Soviet era, Cardinal Lubomyr Husar told Aid to the Church in Need.

Older period have difficulty breaking the habits of thought formed by decades under Communism, the cardinal said. Young people, on the other hand, have trouble finding an alternative model for society. Cardinal Husar observed that “Western Europe is also no ideal model… These is much that is good, but there is also moral liberalism.”

(Cardinal Husar served as Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church from 2001 until his retirement in 2011. He was elevated to the College of Cardinals by Pope John Paul II in 2001.)

Because many Ukrainians feel an emptiness in their lives, some Church leaders find that work with those in need helps to open up new models of society. Bishop Stanislav Szyrokoradiuk of Kharkiv-Zaporizhia has set up a center that offers care and counselling for addicts, alcoholics, and others. “So many young people came to our soup kitchens,” he said, “but too many of them are ruined.” The new center seeks to help young people overcome addictions. lexomil et viagra https://www.kamelef.com/viagra-faq.html le prix du viagra