Olga Mamona
God made it happen! The meeting with our prisoners was an incident unprecedented in world diplomacy. For the first time the leader of the group that held the prisoners, met us—basically, his opponents—with flowers in his hands. Moreover, all of the prisoners were put in a room where the floors were covered with carpets, had juice and water, and each was given flowers and gifts. For a long time I tried to understand the meaning of these gestures...
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South America first began receiving Orthodox Christians—Greeks, Slavs, Serbs—in the second half of the 19th century. In the 20th century, those who rejected Bolshevik rule in Russia emigrated here, especially Russian officers of the White Army. Bishop John of Caracas and South America talks to us about why our ancestors merited this praise, how Orthodox parish life will change in the next twenty years and what problems Orthodox Christians now face in Latin America.
The second Wednesday of Great Lent this year, March 14/27, will mark the 246th anniversary of the falling asleep in the Lord of the ever-memorable Colonel Philip Ludwell III, of Williamsburg, VA, the first documented convert to Orthodoxy in the Americas.
In recent years, around 60-100 Syriac Orthodox families have returned from central Europe to Turkey. Encouraged by changes in the political atmosphere, the minority nonetheless faces a host of problems, from the expropriation of land belonging to a monastery, to a ban on special schools and kindergartens, and also a lack of places of worship in Istanbul.
In what has become a decades old “Living Tradition,” clergy and faithful alike filled the cathedral for the celebration of the festal Divine Liturgy and the Great Blessing of Water.
