Ecclesiology

The Ecumenical Patriarchate has begun preparations to grant independence to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine from Russia, it said Friday.

In a statement, the patriarchate named two representatives who will be dispatched to discuss the process of autocephaly of Kiev from Moscow.

As the battle hots up over whether a number of countries in the region should get their own Orthodox Churches, Serbian Patriarch Irinej has written to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople warning him about the danger of introducing the principle of giving ecclesiastical independence, or autocephaly, to new states or nations.

The Perpetual Holy Synod of the Church of Greece was set to convene again on Wednesday to discuss recent developments regarding negotiations between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) over the name dispute.

The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece on Tuesday issued a statement saying that individuals dressed as clerics who have been appearing on Greek television channels and speaking in support of the nationalist political grouping Convention of Greeks, founded by self-proclaimed billionaire Artemis Sorras, are not priests in the eyes of the Church.

In a news conference on Tuesday aboard a papal flight from Sweden back to Rome, Pope Francis declared that the Roman Catholic Church’s teaching that women cannot be ordained as priests is likely to remain in place forever.

The success of the first Holy Great Council of the Orthodox Church in over 1,200 years, which is scheduled for June 16-17 on the Greek island of Crete, has been threatened by the Bulgarian Holy Synod, which decided to boycott the summit at the last moment.

Churches across Turkey celebrate Christmas with services in which believers lit candles, prayed and joined the choir at a number of historic cathedrals

The annual Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church on Wednesday said it was relieving from duty its Canadian Bishop, Georgije Djokic, following complaints of misconduct and corruption.

Serbia's daily Blic newspaper reported that the Bishop has denied the charges, claiming that he turned round one of the Church's most neglected dioceses.

Head of the Serbian Orthodox Church's Dioecese of Canda Georgije (Djokic) has been relieved of his duties by the Holy Synod of the SPC.

Bulgaria marks on Saturday the 1150th anniversary of its conversion to Christianity and the 1145th anniversary of the establishment of an autocephalous Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church also observes on Saturday the feast day of Saint Tsar Boris I the Baptiser, the medieval ruler, who converted Bulgaria to Christianity.