One-third of all clergymen, two-thirds of all Orthodox parishes, three-fourths of the students of spiritual education establishments belong to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Culture Ministry said in its report. Over 10,200 clergymen and over 12,600 communities belong to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. The number of the latter is twice as high as the total number of communities of all Orthodox religious organizations (Old Believe…

Already half a million people have bowed to the relics of St. Nicholas in the two weeks since they were brought to the Russian capital. "To date, the number of pilgrims has reached half a million people. The line is on average three kilometers long," Patriarch Kirill's spokesman Alexander Volkov told Interfax-Religion. Among the pilgrims who came to venerate the saint these days was Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to the statistics unveiled by the organizers of the bringing of the…

Die Zeugen Jehovas haben angekündigt, gegen das Urteil des Obersten Gerichts zu ihrer Einstufung als „extremistische Organisation“ in Berufung zu gehen. Am 20. April hatte das Oberste Gericht Russlands einen Antrag des Justizministeriums gebilligt, die Zeugen Jehovas als „extremistische Gruppe“ einzustufen, die die öffentliche Ordnung bedrohe und Familien zerstöre. Russlands Kirchen reagierten unterschiedlich auf das Verbot der Zeugen Jehovas. Der Leiter des Außenamtes des Moskauer Patriarchat…

In Jekaterinburg ist der Blogger Ruslan Sokolovskij wegen des Schürens von Hass und der Verletzung der Gefühle von Gläubigen zu einer bedingten Haftstrafe von dreieinhalb Jahren verurteilt worden. Der 23-Jährige war im September verhaftet worden, nachdem er ein Video auf Youtube gestellt hatte, das ihn beim Jagen von Pokémons in einer der größten Kirchen Jekaterinburgs zeigt. Die Spiel-App, in der virtuelle Wesen mithilfe des Mobiltelefons an realen Orten gefangen werden, war zu der Zeit sehr b…

Die Russische Orthodoxe Kirche hat sich gegen die Umstellung vom kyrillischen auf das lateinische Alphabet in Kasachstan ausgesprochen. Dieser Schritt werde für Millionen Russen in dem zentralasiatischen Land und viele Kasachen „sehr schmerzhaft“ sein, sagte der Leiter des Kirchlichen Außenamts des Moskauer Patriarchats, Metropolit Ilarion (Alfejev). Staatspräsident Nursultan Nasarbajew hatte im April angeordnet, bis 2025 die kyrillische Schrift durch lateinische Buchstaben zu ersetzen. Metrop…

On 5 June 2017, the Day of the Holy Spirit, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Trinity Cathedral, one of the largest Ukrainian Orthodox churches in Kiev. Concelebrating were Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshgorod and Chernobyl; Metropolitan Antony of Borispol and Brovary, chancellor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church; seventeen archpastors – two metropolitans, five archbishops, and ten bishops; clerics of the cathedral and ordained guests. Arch…

The Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church met at the Monastery of the Protecting Veil in Kharkov 27 May 2017. It was chaired by His Beatitude Onufriy, Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine, and was timed to the 25th anniversary of the Council of Kharkov. The meeting took place at the historic building in which the Council of Kharkov was held, as part of the church celebrations devoted to the jubilee. The Synod adopted a Message to the Episcopate, Clergy, Monastics and Laity on the Occasion of t…

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia consecrated the Cathedral of the Resurrection in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan capital city of Bishkek and celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the newly consecrated church. Before the service the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church was met at the cathedral door by Bishop Daniel of Bishkek and Kyrgyzstan, the Director of the Kyrgyz State Commission for Religious Affairs Z. Ergeshev, and the Russian Ambassador of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan A. Kr…

On June 4, a conflict erupted between the faithful of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate around the building of a church in Kolomyia. According to IRres, which is citing a local television station STC, it is a wooden Church of Annunciation of the 17th century. The activists of the UGCC came to the church building and organized a meeting in which it claimed the rights to it. Allegedly, only Greek Catholics ruled there, but in the Soviet t…

The Razumkov Center presented at a round table in Kyiv a new study of the religious situation in Ukraine, which was carried out on March 3 - 9, 2017. According to the new sociological survey, the proportion of believers in Ukraine has dropped as compared to 2014 and 2016. The figures dropped to 67% (in 2014 it was 76% and in 2016 70% respectively), equaling the pre-war level of 2013. Traditionally, high religiosity is declared by residents of western Ukraine, they constitute over 91% of believe…

Eighty-one percent of Russians know that the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker have been brought from Italy to Russia and 18% have not heard of this," the Russia Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) said. Seventy-two percent of respondents said they would like to visit and kiss the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker, most of them are women (81%), people aged over 60 (82%) and Orthodox Christians (87%). Eighty-three percent of the respondents are positive about the fact that holy relics are…

Tb Festivities to mark the 40th anniversary of the enthronement of Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of All Georgia have been cancelled, the Georgian Patriarchate said on its website. "Given the unstable situation in the world and the current social situation in Georgia, with the blessing of His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II, the celebrations linked with the 40th anniversary of the enthronement of the catholicos-patriarch and the invitations to Georgia sent to the heads of Orthodox Churches and oth…

Das frühere Oberhaupt der Ukrainischen Griechisch-katholischen Kirche (UGKK), Lubomyr Kardinal Husar, ist tot. Husar verstarb am 31. Mai 2017 im 85. Lebensjahr nach schwerer Krankheit in Kiew. In Lviv, seiner Geburtsstadt, wo Husar auch viele Jahre als Großerzbischof der UGKK seinen Amtssitz hatte, wurde der 1. Juni zum Trauertag ausgerufen. Die Begräbnisfeierlichkeiten fanden am 5. Juni in Kiew statt.

Responding to an appeal from Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, World Council of Churches Secretary General Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit has forwarded messages to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Ukrainian Verkhovnaya Rada Chairman Andrey Parubiy to express "deep concern" over the prospect of passing bills that would be "detrimental" to the rights of the canonical Orthodox Church of Ukraine and calling for these bills to be withdrawn. It was reported that Bill No. 4511, which the V…

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia solemnly met at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker first time in history delivered from Italy to Russia. Hundreds clerics made a living corridor outside the church and the patriarch went through it to the bus, which brought the relics from the Vnukovo Airport. Then the shrine was taken inside. Four bishops carried the reliquary on their shoulders. Believers filled the cathedral that can house about 10,00…

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia met with the Catholic Archbishop of Bari, Mons. Francesco Cacucci, and the Italian delegation who brought the shrine with a part of the honourable relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, from Bari to Moscow. The meeting took place at the Supreme Church Council Hall at the Cathedral Church of Christ the Saviour. The Italian delegation included Archbishop Celestino Migliore, apostolic nuncio to Russia; Mons. Andr…

On June 7-9, 2017, a Ukrainian public forum "X Ecumenical Social Week” is set to be held in Kyiv. It is themed: “Dignity. Service. Solidarity. Towards Country Renewal.” The forum organizer is the Institute of Ecumenical Studies of the Ukrainian Catholic University (Lviv). Co-organizers of the Forum are: Kyiv Center of the Ukrainian Catholic University, Pastoral Migration Department of the UGCC, Ukrainian Cooperative Alliance, St. Thomas Aquinas Institute, Kyiv Regional Council and Administratio…

In Vladivostok hat ein Friedensrichter angeordnet, 40 Bibeln aus dem örtlichen Büro der Heilsarmee zu vernichten. Die Bücher waren nicht entsprechend dem neuen Gesetz über missionarische Tätigkeiten, das Teil des Antiterrorgesetzes ist, mit dem Namen der Organisation versehen. Der Vertreter der Heilsarmee hatte sich vor Gericht schuldig bekannt, aber angegeben, die neue Regelung nicht gekannt zu haben. Das Gericht verurteilte am 20. Dezember 2016 die Heilsarmee zu einer Buße von 30 …

Das ukrainische Kulturministerium wirft Geistlichen der Ukrainischen Orthodoxen Kirche–Moskauer Patriarchat (UOK–MP) „anti-ukrainische“ Handlungen in der Ostukraine und auf der Krim vor. In seiner Erklärung führte das Kulturministerium mehrere Beispiele für eine „anti-ukrainische, separatistische und anderen Kirchen gegenüber intolerante Haltung“ von Vertretern der UOK–MP an. So habe der Sekretär der Eparchie von Simferopol un…

Die geplante Übergabe der Isaakskathedrale in St. Petersburg, die zum UNESCO-Weltkulturerbe zählt und heute in erster Linie als Museum dient, an die Russische Orthodoxe Kirche (ROK) stößt auf verbreitete Kritik. Der Gouverneur von St. Petersburg, Georgij Poltavtschenko, hatte angeordnet, die größte Kirche St. Petersburgs der ROK für 49 Jahre zur kostenlosen Nutzung zu überlassen, nachdem im Dezember 2016 der russische Patriarch Kirill einen solchen Antrag gestellt hatte. Bis spätestens in zwe…