Today, His Holiness visited Patriarch Theodore II of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and of All Africa for this year’s Christmas celebration according to the Gregorian Calendar. This took place in the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Cairo.
A delegation from the Coptic Church accompanied His Holiness: Read More
By God’s Mercy
Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch
To the plenitude of the Church
Grace, mercy and peace from the newborn Savior Christ in Bethlehem
Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord,
Having once again arrived at the great feast of the Lord’s Nativity, we glorify with hymn and spiritual song the One who emptied Himself for our sake and assumed our flesh so that He might redeem us from captivity to evil and open the gates of paradise to the human race. The Church of Christ rejoices as it liturgically experiences the whole mystery of Divine Economy and receives a foretaste of the glory of the eschatological kingdom, offering a good and godly witness to faith, hope and love in the world. Read More
Russian-style “Byzantine symphonia”
As Vladimir Putin prepared to return to the Kremlin for a third term of office in 2012, Patriarch Kirill, the powerful head of the Russian Orthodox Church, described the ex-KGB officer’s rule as a “miracle of God.”
The patriarch’s comments, made during a pre-election televised meeting with Putin, were a stark illustration, critics said at the time, of the erosion of the separation of church and state, as stipulated by Russia’s much-abused post-Soviet constitution. Over the following years, Putin, who professes a deep Orthodox belief, would shift to ultra-conservatism, positioning himself as a defender of traditional Christian values.
Flash forward to 2019, and while the institution of the Russian Orthodox Church remains broadly loyal to the country’s secular authorities, the Kremlin’s relations with some grassroots believers — once viewed as a bedrock of support for Putin — are increasingly tense. Read More
