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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Kyiv - All 250 pastoral messages of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky of the UGCC from 1899 to 1944, which are kept in the Ukrainian and western archives, were published. Several days ago the third volume of works of the metropolitan written in 1939-1944 came out. During five years Halychyna was occupied Archbishop Andrey wrote 95 messages, almost as many as he wrote during the 40 previous years of his ministry.

Bishop of UGCC Mykhail Hrynchyshyn and the research worker of the Central State Historical Archive in Lviv Oksana Hayova have been working for more than 20 years on the documents of Metropolitan Andrey, which includes not only messages, but also numerous letters, decrees, articles, lectures, and appeals which are kept in the Lviv and Kyiv archives, and also abroad.

Many of these documents were already published in thematic collections and others are being prepared to be printed. And now all the pastoral messages of Andrey are published in three volumes: from 1899 to 1914 (issued in 2007), from 1918 to 1939 (issued in 2009) and from 1939 to 1944 (in 2010).

From 1914 to 1917 the metropolitan was imprisoned by the tsarist Russian government and was in Suzdal. Immediately when the bishop returned to his motherland in January 1918 he wrote a message to the clergy and faithful after the exile.

The third volume of the pastoral messages of the metropolitan are about the most difficult period in life of Halychyna and the UGCC when the fronts were changing, when Ukrainians did not have a state, when Ukrainians, Poland, Jewish people were killed, and when hatred and provocation reined. The only leader guide for many people at that time was Bishop Andrey.

www.radiosvoboda.org/content/article/2146215.html

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

CWNews.com - Cooperation with the Russian Orthodox Church is necessary for the growth of Catholicism in Russia, according to the secretary general of the Conference of Russian Catholic Bishops.

“The Catholic community in Russia is a minority and must cooperate with the Orthodox; only then we’ll be able to develop to the utmost,” Father Igor Kovalevsky told Nezavisimaya Gazeta. “So, let’s say we are interested in strong Orthodoxy.”

Catholics and Orthodox need to work together to combat European secularism and re-evangelize the continent, he added.

0.7% of Russia’s 141.8 million people are Catholic, according to Vatican statistics.

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

CWNews.com - The Melkite Catholic Church should act as a bridge between Eastern and Western Christianity, the prefect of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches said.

Speaking during the Divine Liturgy at a church in Cordoba, Argentina—where he was joined by the visiting Melkite Patriarch of Antioch, Gregory III Laham—Cardinal Leonardo Sandri said that Melkites hold a strategic place because “are very rooted in the Eastern world but they are also traditionally united to the Petrine See.”

Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window. ladyx.ch

• Vatican cardinal calls on Melkites to be bridge between East and West (CNA)

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

CWNews.com - Patriarch Antonius Naguib, the head of the Coptic Catholic Church, has provided a fascinating glimpse into the life of Christians in Egypt in an interview with Aid to the Church in Need. The patriarch, for example, noted that Egyptian law leaves marital issues to the different religious bodies, allowing the Church to uphold the indissolubility of Christian marriage.

Asked “Is it beneficial for a Christian to convert to Islam just for the sake of employment opportunities?”, he replied:

There are some cases but I would not agree to say that this is the primary reason. There are, I think, two principal reasons. One is based on marriage. The easiest way to get out of a marriage, for a Christian whether its the man or the woman, is to become Muslim - for them it is easy to divorce and have the benefit of full rights against the other partner or spouse and full custody of the children. The second reason is the weakness in one's faith. This is due to the lack of good formation in one's faith. There are some regions, villages and in some quarters of the city where there is not enough pastoral care. The Islamic appeal and the secular media greatly influences and easily contributes to this failure in one's steadfastness towards one's faith because of the lack of a solid faith foundation.

According to Vatican statistics, only 0.3% of Egypt’s 77.6 million people are Catholic; 10% of Egyptians are Christian, with the vast majority of Christians belonging to the Coptic Orthodox Church, which broke communion with the Holy See following the Council of Chalcedon in 451. The Coptic Catholic Church has an estimated 166,000 members.

Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

• Egypt: A Christian minority where Islam is the state religion (Aid to the Church in Need)
• Coptic Catholic Church (CNEWA)

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

NEW YORK - Archbishop Demetrios of America received His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, the Head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department of External Relations, at the Archdiocese Headquarters, Aug. 30. The Metropolitan had requested a meeting with the Archbishop, and this was his first visit to the Archdiocese.

After praying in the Archdiocesan Chapel of St. Paul, and viewing the few surviving remains of the St. Nicholas Church destroyed on 9/11 which are kept in the Chapel, the Metropolitan spent 90 minutes with the Archbishop, discussing the recent Episcopal Assembly of North and Central America (May 26-28, 2010), as well as issues of common interest for inter-Orthodox relations in the United States. The discussions were characterized by a spirit of common interest and desire for the promotion of the Orthodox message in the United States and internationally.

GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE OF AMERICA
8-10 East 79th St. New York, NY 10075-0106 * Tel: (212) 570-3530 Fax: (212) 774-0237
www.goarch.org - Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

B A R T H O L O M E W
By the mercy of God
Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and
Ecumenical Patriarch
Grace and peace unto the Plenitude of the Church
From the Fashioner of All Creation
Our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ

Beloved Children in Lord,

Our ever-memorable predecessor, the late Patriarch Demetrios, who possessed a deep awareness of the gravity of the environmental crisis, as well as of the responsibility of the Church to directly and effectively confront the crisis, issued the first official encyclical dealing with the protection of the natural environment more than two decades ago. Through this encyclical, the Mother Church officially established the date of September 1st, - the beginning of the ecclesiastical year - as a day of prayer for the protection of the environment, declaring it to the plenitude of the Church throughout the length and breadth of the world.

At that time, our Church insightfully emphasized the significance of the eucharistic and ascetic ethos of our tradition, that manifests our most important and most crucial unique contribution toward the proper and universal struggle for the protection of the natural environment as a Divine Creation and shared inheritance. Today, in the midst of an unprecedented financial crisis, humanity is facing many and diverse trials. But this trial is related not only to our individual hardships; this trial affects every aspect of human society, especially our behavior and perception of the surrounding world and the way we rank our values and priorities.

It is important to note that the current grievous financial crisis may spark the much-reported and absolutely essential shift to environmentally viable development; i.e., to a standard of economic and social policy whose priority will be the environment, and not unbridled financial gain. Let us all consider as an example what may happen to countries that are suffering today on account of the financial crisis and poverty, such as Greece, which at the same time have exceptional natural riches: unique ecosystems, rare fauna and flora and natural resources, exquisite landscapes, abundant sunlight and wind. If ecosystems deteriorate and disappear, natural sources become depleted, and landscapes suffer destruction, and climate change produces unpredictable weather conditions, on what basis will the financial future of these countries and the planet as a whole depend?

We hold, therefore, that there is a dire need in our day for a combination of societal sanctions and political initiatives, such that there is a powerful change in direction, to a path of viable and sustainable environmental development.

For our Orthodox Church, the protection of the environment, as a divine and very good creation, embodies a great responsibility for every human person, regardless of material or financial benefits. The direct correlation of the God-given duty and mandate, to work and preserve, with every aspect of contemporary life constitutes the only way to a harmonious co-existence with each and every element of creation, and the entirety of the natural world in general.

Therefore, we call upon all of you, beloved brethren and children in the Lord, to take part in the titanic and righteous battle to alleviate the environmental crisis, and to prevent the even worse results that derive from its consequences. Let us motivate ourselves to harmonize our personal and collective life and attitudes with the needs of nature's ecosystems, so that every kind of fauna and flora in the world and in the universe may live and thrive and be preserved.

September 1st, 2010
Your beloved brother in Christ and
fervent supplicant before God,
+ BARTHOLOMEW of Constantinople

GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE OF AMERICA
8-10 East 79th St. New York, NY 10075-0106 * Tel: (212) 570-3530 Fax: (212) 774-0237
www.goarch.org    - Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.