23 April 2013
This icon of St. George, from a 14th century Constantinople workshop, is exhibited in the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens. (photo: Wikipedia)
At the Vatican today, Pope Francis celebrated Mass for the Feast of St. George, for whom he was named. The saint is a figure honored not only by Catholics and Anglicans — he’s the patron of England — but also by the Orthodox and even some Muslims. Little is known about St. George beyond the fact that he was a Greek who lived in Palestine shortly before the time of Constantine and that he was martyred for being a Christian.
In his homily, the pope spoke of suffering and persecution in the early days of the Church:
And so the Church goes forward, as one saint says — I do not remember which one, here — “amid the persecutions of the world and the consolations of the Lord.” And thus is the life of the Church. If we want to travel a little along the road of worldliness, negotiating with the world — as did the Maccabees, who were tempted, at that time — we will never have the consolation of the Lord. And if we seek only consolation, it will be a superficial consolation, not that of the Lord: a human consolation. The Church’s journey always takes place between the Cross and the Resurrection, amid the persecutions and the consolations of the Lord. And this is the path: those who go down this road are not mistaken.
You can read the full text of the pope’s homily today at this link.
Tags: Pope Francis Orthodox Byzantium
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23 April 2013
In the video above from October 2012, one of the two hierarchs kidnapped by gunmen yesterday — the Syriac Orthodox archbishop of Aleppo, Yohanna Ibrahim — says religion can play a positive role in Syria. (video: Huffington Post)
Pope Francis offers prayers for kidnapped Syrian bishops (Vatican Radio) The Director of the Vatican Press Office on Tuesday released a statement on the kidnapping of the Orthodox bishops in Syria...
Prayers requested for kidnapped Syrian hierarchs (OCA.org) In a portion of a letter dated 22 April 2013 and signed by His Grace, Bishop Basil, Secretary of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America to all member hierarchs, prayers were requested for two Syrian hierarchs who had been abducted earlier that day...
Israel: Syria used chemical weapons against its own people (CNN) The Syrian government is using chemical weapons against rebel forces, the head of the Israel Defense Forces’ intelligence research departments said Tuesday. “In all likelihood they used sarin gas,” Brig. Gen. Itai Brun said Tuesday in a speech at a conference in Tel Aviv. This comes as a civil war between the government and rebels rages across Syria — which borders Israel. Analysts believe the Syrian government may have one of the largest stockpiles of chemical weapons in the world...
Egypt’s street children, victims of political instability (Middle East Voices) Egypt’s street children had a lot to gain from the country’s revolution. However, change has come slowly if at all, and in many ways, their cause has been pushed off course. Increasing poverty, a growing shadow economy, and continued political instability, have proven challenges to the safety of these children...
On his feast, remembering St. George in Turkey (Catholic Herald) In fact George is not just Catholic, but also catholic in the widest sense: he is also revered by the Orthodox. He is even honored by some Muslims...
Tags: Syria Egypt Turkey Orthodox
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22 April 2013
In this image from last November, a statue stands outside a destroyed church in Homs, Syria, Activists said the church had been bombed by forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar Assad.
(photo: CNS /Yazan Homsy, Reuters)
Reports from Syria and its Christian minority indicate that the situation in Syria is continuing to deteriorate. Today, sources in Syria report that the Greek Orthodox archbishop of Aleppo, Paul Yazigi, and the Syriac Orthodox archbishop of Aleppo, Yohanna Ibrahim, were seized by “a terrorist group” as they were “carrying out humanitarian work.”
Reuters reports that “a Syriac member of the opposition Syrian National Coalition, Abdulahad Steifo, said the two men had been captured when Ibrahim went to collect Yazigi after he crossed into rebel-held northern Syria from Turkey.”
CNEWA works closely with the Greek and Syriac Orthodox churches in Syria, partnering with its priests and religious to deliver aid to the families impacted by Syria’s ongoing civil war. Please pray for the safety of these shepherds and of their flock. Click here to learn how you can help.
Tags: Syria Georgian Orthodox Church Syriac Orthodox Church
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22 April 2013
A protester opposed to Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi holds up a crucifix and the Quran as demonstrators chant slogans against the political leader near Cairo’s Tahrir Square on 19 April. Many Coptic Christians have left the unrest in Egypt and sought refuge in the United States.
(photo: CNS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany, Reuters)
Activists report record number of bodies found in Syria (CNN) The bodies of at least 566 people who were killed over a six-day period across Syria were found Sunday, according to Local Coordination Committees in Syria, an opposition group based in the country. That is the highest number of victims discovered in a single day since the war began in March 2011, LCC spokeswoman Rafif Jouejati said. At least 450 bodies were found in the Damascus suburb of Jadidat al-Fadel, LCC activist Abu Aasy said Sunday...
In Jordan, tensions rise between Syrian refugees and host community (Washington Post) More than 500,000 Syrians have fled to Jordan since the onset of the conflict in their country more than two years ago, according to the Amman government and the United Nations — a figure equal to nearly one-tenth of Jordan’s population. While 160,000 are housed in refu gee camps, the vast majority have been living in cities, where their presence is stoking tensions with an increasingly resentful host community and posing what Jordanian officials call one of the greatest crises the country has faced in decades...
Chaldean patriarch expresses hope during Iraqi voting (Vatican Radio) Iraqis went to the polls Saturday in their first provincial elections since the United States withdrew its military presence. Despite weeks of violence and bloodshed leading up to the elections, voting in 12 of Iraq’s 18 provinces took place in a state of relative stability and amid tight security. Reports of scattered violence during the first several hours of voting did not prove deadly and seemed not to dissuade voters. The Chaldean Patriarch of Babylon, Archbishop Louis Raphael of Baghdad, said interest among Iraqi citizens in exercising their right to vote was good. “I think the situation is much better today because of the security, and the police and the army are controlling the city of Baghdad in which we are living,” he said...
Chechnya casts long shadow over bombings in Boston (The Telegraph) The publication of the images of suspects by the US authorities, followed by a shoot-out, man-hunt and the lockdown of parts of Boston during Friday were accompanied by revelations that the two suspected bombers — the brothers Jokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev — were of Chechen origin. Attention quickly turned to the restive Southern Russian republic of Chechnya, and the Islamist regional insurgency led by veteran fighter, Doku Umarov, in an attempt find motives for the marathon bombing. But what motivated two young men who had spent most of their lives in the US to attack a marathon in Boston? Did the bombers really have any direct connections to Chechnya, why did they decide to launch such a deadly attack, and how were they radicalized?...
In New York, finding refuge from the unrest in Egypt (New York Times) Ever since the 2011 revolution that toppled President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and ushered in the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, Copts — Egypt’s Orthodox Christian minority — have been flooding out of the country and into the United States. The New York area has been a major gateway for these new arrivals, and churches in Brooklyn, Queens and Jersey City have had their rosters swell accordingly. Within a few months of the revolution, so many people had arrived from Egypt that the membership of St. Mary and St. Antonios had doubled, to about 1,000 families, and the church has not been quite the same since...
Indian bishops speak out against abuse of children (Fides) “What is the value of human life? What meaning does it have?” From this question one must start to seek answers to the sad phenomenon of violence and sexual abuse on minors, which in India reached a record of 48,338 cases in the last decade. This was stated to Fides Agency by the spokesman for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, commenting on the latest case of a 5-year-old girl in Delhi, kidnapped and raped repeatedly for 48 hours by two torturers, who were arrested by the police...
Tags: India Syria Egypt Iraq Copts
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19 April 2013
A Kisti girl dances a Chechen dance during an exhibition of Chechen-Kisti culture. Kists are ethnic Chechens who have lived in Georgia for several hundred years and inhabit the valley of Pankisi Gorge near the Chechen border. War in Chechnya brought thousands of refugees into the region. (photo: Justyna Mielkikiewicz)
Early reports indicate that the two suspects in the Boston marathon bombing have roots in Chechnya.
Several years ago, we profiled some of the cultures that make up the region:
The Caucasus is a place of imprecise boundaries and identities. The borders dividing its land and its people vary from indiscernible to impenetrable. Diaspora and migration further complicate matters. Its strategic location and valuable resources have made the Caucasus the object of desire for several empires. Accordingly, its many ethnic and linguistic groups have developed strong identities by adapting to change while adhering to tradition.
Broadly speaking, the Caucasus is the size of Spain. Anchored by the Caucasus mountain range, it lies between the Black and Caspian seas, with Russia to the north and Turkey and Iran to the south. Its mountains feature Mount Elbrus, which is located on the Russian side of the Georgian border. It was there that, according to Greek mythology, the gods exiled and chained Prometheus as a punishment for stealing fire. On that mountain, he was tortured every night by an eagle that pecked at his liver. Indigenous Georgian mythology features a similar tale. Mount Ararat, sacred to the Armenians but located across the border in Turkey, lies in the far south of the Caucasus. According to tradition, Noah’s ark rested on its slopes after the great flood. These myths and traditions have helped perpetuate the allure and significance of the Caucasus.
Geographers often divide the region by north and south. Today, the North Caucasus usually refers to the republics of the Russian Federation. These include Adygea, Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Kalmykia, Karachay-Cherkessia, Krasnodar Krai and North Ossetia. The independent nations of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia are often referred to as the South Caucasus. Distinctions between east and west persist, too. There is a more Persian flavor in the east than the Turkish-influenced west. …
Militant Islam is also an ingredient in current conflicts, notably in Chechnya, where the struggle for independence from Russia has attracted radical Muslim fighters from throughout the world. For the United States and its allies, the geographic proximity of the Caucasus to Afghanistan, Iraq and the Persian Gulf commands attention. …
Most Chechens are Sunni Muslims. There is a large Sufi minority. Chechens have been seeking independence from Russia since the 19th century. A significant diaspora fuels the ongoing conflict. Chechens also share cultural, ethnic and linguistic ties to the predominantly Sufi Kist in Georgia and Ingush in Ingushetia (a Russian republic bordering Chechnya). …
The almost incomprehensible diversity of the Caucasus contributes to its persistent allure and mystery. Historically, the location of the Caucasus at the nexus of Asia and Europe has generated imaginative mythology and romantic exoticism. The struggle of its people to define their distinct identities reveals the complex syncretism that continues to shape these populations and this region.
You can find the full story, Where Europe Meets Asia, in the November 2009 issue of ONE.
Tags: Cultural Identity Russia Georgia Caucasus
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19 April 2013
Dozens killed in Baghdad cafe explosion (Al Jazeera) Up to 27 people have been killed and dozens more injured in a suicide bombing in a Baghdad cafe, a government source has told Al Jazeera. The source said that a suicide bomber walked into the popular Dubai Cafe late on Thursday and detonated explosives. Police said the cafe was full of young people enjoying water pipes and playing pool…
Syria’s Christian refugees seeking European future (Albawaba) Christian refugees from Syria have not been in Lebanon for very long. Or at least, you don’t hear much from them, as many are averse to reporters. Off the record, one refugee said that Syrian Christians are often accused of being partisans of President Bashar al Assad. Now, many have voiced a desire to move to England, France and other European nations. However, many obstacles stand in the way; for one thing, the visa procedures are very complicated…
Franciscan church destroyed in Syria (Fides) A violent explosion destroyed the church and convent of Capuchin Franciscan friars in Deir Ezzor, Syria, according to Father Tony Haddad, vice provincial of the Friars for the Near East, who oversees the Capuchin presence in Lebanon and Syria. The explosion occurred on 15 April. “It was the only church in Deir Ezzor still remained almost untouched so far.” Details of the cause of the explosion have not yet become clear…
Chaldean patriarch speaks out against ghettoization (Fides) Christians and other people of Iraq cannot live in enclaves drawn on the basis of ethnicity and religion. And the “militarization of the Arab Spring” represents “a loss for everyone,” according to Chaldean Patriarch Raphael Louis. In a recent interview, the patriarch replied to those who continue to voice concerns about the establishment of a special autonomous area reserved for Iraqi Christians — usually identified with the Nineveh Plain — and affirmed that neither Christians nor those belonging to other ethnic or religious groups should live in a ghetto…
Do Gaza’s Christians feel safe? (Al Monitor) Following Hamas’s rise to power in the Gaza Strip in 2006 and subsequent “Islamizing” campaigns, the region’s Christians have faced increasing animosity and often felt targeted. There are approximately 1,500 Christians in the Gaza Strip, down from some 5,000 in the 1970’s. Opinions vary about the reasons for this exodus; war, fear of religious extremism and the pursuit of a better future are all concerns. Some suggest the Hamas government has not succeeded in serving as a government for everyone and, in specific, has neglected those who disagree with it intellectually and ideologically. Government spokespeople dispute this, arguing Christians receive the full protection of law, and that most of the incidents committed against Christians have been criminal rather than sectarian incidents…
Tags: Middle East Christians Syrian Civil War Refugees Iraq Iraqi Refugees
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18 April 2013
It’s not every day you meet real-life heroes. But I’d like to tell you about some I’ve met in my travels.
Please take a moment to watch the video below. See if you don’t agree: what these women are doing is downright heroic! And you can help these heroes help others. Visit this page to find out how. Thank you and God bless you!
Tags: India CNEWA Ethiopia Sisters
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18 April 2013
An elderly couple dance at an event organized by a local social club in the Slovak village of Jakubany. To read how the village is holding on to its Greek Catholic heritage, check out Those Who Remain Behind in the January 2009 issue of ONE. (photo: Andrej Bán)
Tags: Cultural Identity Village life Slovakia Greek Catholic Church
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18 April 2013
In this February 2011 photo, His Beatitude Christopher, archbishop of Prague and metropolitan of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, celebrates the Divine Liturgy at the Synodal Cathedral of Our Lady of the Sign in New York. Metropolitan Christopher resigned from his position as head of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia on Friday. (photo: Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia)
Scandal claims head of Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia (Prague Daily Monitor) The head of the Orthodox Church in the Czech Republic and Slovakia resigned Monday amid allegations that he has breached his oath as a monk, carrying out affairs with women and fathering illegitimate children. Having already denied the charges, Metropolitan Christopher, 59, opted to resign to help maintain the unity of the church. Metropolitan Christopher of Prague was elected in 2006 soon after the death of Metropolitan Nicholas of Presov. After his resignation, the church’s acting head will be the Olomouc-Brno Archbishop Simeon, 87, for about 40 days until a new primate is chosen. To learn more about the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, see our profile from the November 2011 issue of ONE…
Chaldean patriarch says politics is the domain of the laity (Fides) Chaldean Patriarch Louis Raphael has encouraged Christians to participate in the upcoming elections and to make serious and positive proposals to contribute to the common good. According to the text released by the Chaldean Patriarchate, the participation in the elections is “an essential national task.” Father Albert Husham Zarazeer, the communications manager of the Chaldean Patriarchate, expresses the conviction that “Iraqi Christians, who have deep roots in Iraq and have played an important role in its construction, will participate in the local elections in many of the provincial councils”…
Egyptian Copts reject ‘reconciliation meeting’ (AINA) A customary “reconciliation” meeting took place yesterday in Al Khosous to address the recent sectarian violence that resulted in the death of six Christians and one Muslim. Organized by the regime, the meeting included the governor of Qaliubia, Mr. Abdel-Ghafour; the assistant to the Egyptian President for social outreach; top ranking security personnel; representatives from Al Azhar; and two priests from St. Georges church in Al Khosous. The government delegation encountered anger and outright rejection from Copts, believing as they have learned from the past that such reconciliation meetings are useless. The Copts stressed the need to apply the rule of law to all — Christians or Muslims…
Syrian patriarch asks Vatican to increase peace efforts (CNA) The most powerful Catholic leader in Syria met Pope Francis today to ask the Vatican to get more involved in bringing peace to his tortured homeland. “I think it’s time the Vatican plays a bigger role, when we hear about weapons here and there,” said Melkite Patriarch Gregory III. “We want to hear the voice of the Holy Father saying, ‘This is a sin, it is against humanity,’ ” he told reporters on 17 April at Rome’s Basilica of Santa Maria. The Patriarch of Antioch, who is the spiritual leader of the Greek Melkite Catholic Church, said the voice of the Holy See “is now extremely important for us, both Christians and Muslims.” For more, read our profile of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, which appeared in the March 2006 issue of ONE…
Tags: Orthodox Church Chaldean Church Coptic Christians Melkite Patriarch Gregoire III Laham of Damascus Czech Republic
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17 April 2013
Sisters who belong to India’s Daughters of St. Thomas process at the beginning of the liturgy at their novitiate near Palai. The sisters, based in Kerala, have done extraordinary work in a region that is only about 20 percent Christian. Read more about them in Kerala’s Daughters from the November 2004 issue of ONE. To learn how you can help sisters like these, visit this page to support the good work of sisters. (photo: Sean Sprague)
Tags: India Sisters Kerala
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