Head of Phanar leads a Christmas service for Istanbul's "Russian" community
Patriarch Bartholomew's meeting at the St Andrew's Metochion of the Vatopedi Monastery in Istanbul. Photo: orthodoxtimes.com
On 7 January 2024, the day of Christmas according to the Julian calendar, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople officiated a divine service in the Russian-speaking community of Istanbul. The broadcast of the service was published on the Ecumenical Patriarchate's Facebook page.
The Nativity service was held in the St Andrew's Metochion of the Vatopedi Monastery in Istanbul.
During his sermon, the patriarch noted that "Christmas is the very holiday that unites Russians, Ukrainians, Greeks, Romanians" and representatives of other nationalities.
"On this great holiday of our faith, I could not be far from you, from my children. We celebrated Christmas on 25 December, but since our pastors now celebrate it according to the Julian calendar, I could not be absent today. <...> Unfortunately, I could not come to the Consecration Day Feast of your St Andrew's Church, so today I came with a double joy – to celebrate Christmas," the head of the Phanar said.
As reported by the UOJ, the President of Poland congratulated the Orthodox on Christmas.
Read also
In Spain, murderer moved to women's prison after claiming to be female
A Spaniard convicted of a series of brutal murders has secured a transfer to a women's prison allegedly based on a change of gender identity.
Georgian Patriarchate warns about fake social media pages
The Georgian Orthodox Church has stated that unknown individuals are using official symbols to create fake social media pages.
Court extends round-the-clock house arrest for Metropolitan Arseniy
The Chechelivsky Court of Dnipro left the abbot of the Sviatohirsk Lavra under house arrest and allowed him to attend medical procedures without separate permission.
OCU shows number of parishioners in seized church of Bezuhlivka
About 15 people with flags stood at the first "service" at St. Michael's Church after the seizure.
In Kyiv, OCU and UGCC сhaplains given an introductory tour of synagogue
Ukraine’s chief rabbi said that clergy of the OCU, UGCC, and RCC familiarized themselves with Jewish tradition at a synagogue.
OCU outraged that Lepliavo parish removed church property before seizure
The Cherkasy Eparchy of the OCU complained that after the fake “transfer” in Lepliavo, UOC faithful left them nothing but bare walls.