Rating: 8,4|Votes: 7
In Turkey, which is the canonical territory of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, there are very few Greek parishioners left. The Orthodox community has been supplemented to some degree by Russians who have taken up permanent residence there. However, there are also some Turks who have become Orthodox in the Patriarchate. Lately their numbers have grown. Orthodox literature is being printed for them in Turkish, and articles about the newly-converted are being published. Achmet and Nejla are two of the thousand or so Turks who have changed their faith; and unlike others, they do not hide this at all.
But no matter what, Russian people have not lost their firm faith. The new generations are reason for a great deal of hope. During my first visit to Buenos Aires, I met with Russian youth and saw that they are striving to immerse themselves in the Russian spiritual tradition and learn more about the Russian Orthodox Church. Young people are well aware that the only place around which they can come together is the Orthodox parish.
On Moscow, March 29, 2010, His Holiness, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, issued an announcement regarding the terrorist act in the Moscow metropolitan subway. On March 29, 2010, two explosions set off by suicide bombers in two different centrally located stations of the Moscow metro caused the deaths of 39 people to date, and 71 hospitalized, five of which are in critical condition.
Rating: 10|Votes: 1
I think that the first step toward peace should be bound up with the truth, because without the truth, there is no meaning to existence. Truth is man’s natural desire, and humanity cannot live without truth. Of course, the truth should be spoken on all sides, because each should accept the responsibility for the guilt that lies with himself.
Rating: 10|Votes: 3
Today South Ossetia is a fertile field for pastoral work. Most of the people who live there consider themselves Orthodox, and feel linked with Russia not just politically, but more importantly, spiritually. The gap which formed in Church life under the soviet regime is now disappearing. People are going to church, and there is a great thirst for the word of God. The holy fathers say that the most important conditions for salvation are memory of death and fear of God—and that is what people who live there have.