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Moscow - CWNews.com - Metropolitan Hilarion, head of the department for external Church relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, has welcomed the appointment of Bishop Kurt Koch of Basel as the new president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. With the appointment, Bishop Koch has been raised to the dignity of an archbishop.

Calling Archbishop Koch “a zealous pastor and serious theologian committed to the tradition of the early Church and the idea of Christian unity,” Metropolitan Hilarion said in a message that “I hope that new prospects for cooperation have been opened for us for the benefit of the both Churches.”

“Thanks in no small degree to your predecessors as presidents of the [pontifical] council, constructive relations have been developed between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church,” he added.

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

• Russian Church hopes to develop cooperation with Vatican under new head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (Interfax)

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Final Report of the  Synod

of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church

at the Patriarchal Summer Residence, Ain-Traz

21-26 June 2010

The Synod of Bishops of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church was held at the Patriarchal Residence of Ain Traz, Lebanon, from 21 to 26 June 2010. It was presided over by His Beatitude, Patriarch Gregorios III with the participation of hierarchs of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church who had come from the Church's eparchies in Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, the Holy Land, the United States of America, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand, together with the superiors general of the religious orders and of the Society of Missionaries of Saint Paul..

Their names and ranks are as follows:

The Rt. Rev. André Haddad, Archbishop of Furzol, Zahlé and all the Beqaa
The Rt. Rev. John Adel Elia, Bishop emeritus of Newton (USA)
The Rt. Rev. Ibrahim Nehmé, Metropolitan emeritus of Homs, Hama and Yabrud

The Rt. Rev. Georges Riashi, Archbishop and Patriarchal Administrator of Tripoli - Lebanon

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Over there Russian Orthodoxy hasits cornerstone. And over there, there is the most numerous Eastern Catholic population. With John Paul II the two Churches were at loggerheads. With Benedict XVI the turning point. But peace is still far away

by Sandro Magister


ROME, June 28, 2010 – (Chiesa News) - From many years now the feast of the Apostles Saints Peter and Paul is a deep moment of dialogue between the Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches, with the participation of delegates from the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, if not of the Patriarch himself, to the liturgies celebrated by the Pope.

This dialogue with Benedict XVI has made incredible progress. Even the primacy of the Pope – main historical reason for the schism –is not taboo anymore and has become the object of ecumenical seminars.

During the current pontificate, even the relationships between the Church of Rome and the larger part of the Orthodoxy, that is the Church of Russia, have definitely improved. Both agree in addressing together the major priority for Christians in Europe today: a new evangelization of all of those who are far from faith. The same new evangelization which Benedict XVI has decided to dedicate a specific office of the Roman Curia.

At a practical stage though, there is still an obstacle that stands between Rome and Moscow and that prevents the meeting of the Pope with the Russian Patriarch. Meeting that has never taken place in history, but that both Benedict and Kirill I wish with all their hearts.

This obstacle is Ukraine.


The relationship with the Pope that some Ukrainian Christians have, is due to historical events, the alternating dominations now and then of the Poles and of the Russians. Poland favoured it. Russia hindered it. At the end of the 1700's, when Poland disappeared as a State and the Russians occupied the region and imposed Orthodoxy, the Ukrainians faithful to the Pope moved to Galicia which was part of Vienna's Catholic empire. It is here that in the 1800's the myth of the Slav Pope capable of giving them a victory was born.

But during the Second World War the Soviet Union occupied all of Ukraine; even the Greek-Catholic Church that had survived in Galicia was wiped out. In 1946 Moscow organized at Lvov, Russian name for the Ukrainian Lviv, a so called synod which obliged everyone to turn to Orthodoxy. The Archbishop Josyf Slipji, legitimate head of the Greek-Catholics was put in prison. He will be released and exiled in 1963.

In 1989 thanks to the fall of the Berlin wall the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church was able to leave its catacombs with its Bishops, its priests and its faithful. It immediately claimed the Orthodox Church to give back the churches and the houses. In some cases, few, the rendering was carried out peacefully. But in many other areas the issue was a reason for physical conflict, with violent occupations and ejections. A conflict which is still today only partially resolved.

In 2001 Pope John Paul II galvanized the Catholics when he visited Ukraine and canonized 27 martyrs of the Communist regime, one of which was killed in boiling water, another crucified in prison and another buried alive.

The above is an excerpt of the original article. Read the full article.

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LUTSK – (risu.org.ua) In Lutsk the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), Patriarch Lubomyr (Husar) called to renew the original unity of Christ’s Church, reports the Information Department of the UGCC with references to Volyn Truth, Volyn Information Portal, Pepper Kovel Style, and other publications of the Volyn region.

“Returning to the original unity of the church is our duty. Christ’s Church is one church which we, people, divided. And now our task is to fix it,” said Patriarch Lubomyr. According to the head of the UGCC, in Ukraine and abroad, Ukrainians who belong to different Christian denominations are finding a way to one another.

When journalists asked for example of cooperation with other denominations, the head of the UGCC said: “We cooperate in many areas. Maybe not at the level of high theological dialogues, but in the area of social service, daily needs. The cooperation here is very fruitful… We try in a different way to overcome these misunderstanding and divergences,” he added.

“In the opinion of His Beatitude Lubomyr, all these steps are the elements of the path to the future renewal of unity of Christ’s Church,” report the publications of Volyn.

Sharing with the Volyn journalists his impressions about Volyn and comparing it to other regions, the head of the UGCC noted that, despite the regional particularities and different characters of the needs of the faithful, in particular, the UGCC, the residents of the different regions do not differ between each other in their main needs and are the citizens of one indivisible Ukraine, writes the Volyn Truth.

“Certainly, Volyn, Prymorska Ukraine, the Kharkiv region, and Crimea had different historical paths and it created cultural differences. Let’s take Odesa for example – people there are already different from people in Volyn. But all these people are united by two things – devotion to the church and love to the native land. So it does not make sense to talk about the existence of two or more ‘Ukraines.’ Ukraine is one and united,” underlined the hierarch.

Will remind that on June 26-29 Patriarch Lubomyr was on a pastoral visit in Volyn where he participated in the meeting of the Permanent Synod of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. Also the head of the UGCC dedicated an award to the holy martyr Omelyan Kovch in Lutsk, celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Holy Mother of God, and met with the clergy, laity, and local authority of Volyn.

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ATLANTA – The 40th Biennial Clergy-Laity Congress of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America was inaugurated today with the Orthros service and Hierarchical Divine Liturgy held in Atlanta’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation.

His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America presided over the Divine Liturgy concelebrating with the Metropolitans of the Holy Eparchial Synod of the Archdiocese. Taking part in the Liturgy were His Eminence Metropolitan Iakovos of Chicago, His Eminence Metropolitan Methodios of Boston, His Eminence Metropolitan Isaiah of Denver, His Eminence Metropolitan Alexios of Atlanta, His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas of Detroit, His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco, and His Eminence Metropolitan Evangelos of New Jersey. Metropolitan Maximos of Pittsburgh was not able to be present.

His Eminence Metropolitan Irenaios of Crete, representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to the Congress attended the Liturgy from the Solea along with Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Patras and Bishops John of Amorion, Savas of Troas, Andonios of Phasiane and Demetrios of Mokissos.

Also concelebrating the Divine Liturgy were The Very Reverend Sevastianos Skordallos, Chief Secretary of the Eparchial Synod, The Very Reverend Archimandrite Grigorios Tatsis; Protopresbyter Fr. George Tsahakis, Chancellor of the Metropolis of Atlanta; Fr. George Alexson, Dean of the Annunciation Cathedral; Fr. Stavros Tsichlis, president of the Archdiocesan Presbyters Council; Fr. Theodore Barbas, Chancellor of the Metropolis of Boston; Fr. Luke Uhl, Chancellor of the Metropolis of Denver; archdeacon Panteleimon Papadopoulos, archdeacon Michael Diamond, archdeacon Ryan Rafael Gzikowski and deacon Vasilios Louros.

Archbishop Demetrios of America spoke to the hundreds of faithful attending the Liturgy both in the Cathedral and the adjoining church hall were the video of the liturgy was transmitted simultaneously.

The Archbishop first expressed the gratitude we all should have for God’s blessings and gifts of freedom and creativity, especially on the 4th of July for the gift of liberty we as Americans enjoy. His Eminence made reference to the epistle reading of the day (Romans 12:6-14), which precisely talks about the “charismata” (grace) given to all of us from God. These “charismata” help the believers grow in the grace of Christ, said the Archbishop noting that “we are the people of great gifts from Christ… and in that spirit we should offer this 40th Clergy Laity Congress as a hymn of praise to God.”

The representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Archbishop Irenaios of Crete conveyed the paternal and patriarchal greetings and blessings of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. In his paternal words to the faithful the visiting hierarch said he feels the closeness and unity between the orthodox faithful here in America and his flock in Crete and all the Orthodox around the world.

A Doxology service followed on the occasion of July 4th – Independence Day, and a southern style barbecue was offered for all in the adjoining facilities of the Cathedral community.

Later in the afternoon Archbishop Demetrios was joined by the other hierarchs and Leadership 100 Chairman Constantine Caras for the cutting of the ribbon at the official opening of the Congress Exhibit Hall. Leadership 100 provided the underwriting for the exhibit area, which features numerous booths with vendors from the United States, Canada, Greece, and Cyprus and includes a ministry pavilion which highlights the national ministries of the Archdiocese.

Following the opening of the exhibit area, Archbishop Demetrios attended the opening ceremony of the National Philoptochos Conference, which coincides with the Clergy-Laity meetings. Archbishop Irenaios read the Patriarchal Message. Philoptochos President Aphrodite Skeadas presented the accomplishments of the last two years and thanked among others Bishop Andonios of Phasiane for his leadership and spiritual guidance.

Immediately after, His Eminence accompanied again by Archbishop Irenaios of Crete, Metropolitan Alexios of Atlanta, Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Patras and the other Metropolitans of the Eparchial Synod attended a reception and presentation of the National Forum of Greek Orthodox Church Musicians, where a choir performed several hymns.  The Order of St. Andrew - Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in America also held a reception and a very informative presentation on the issues concerning our Ecumenical Patriarchate, attended by Archbishop Demetrios, many hierarchs and other Archons and delegates.

Daily coverage of the events of the Congress will be available on the web site of the Archdiocese at www.goarch.org. Congress information, reports, and programs are available at www.clergylaity.org <http://www.clergylaity.org> .

Photos of the events are available at www.photos.goarch.org.

GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE OF AMERICA
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Beloved brother Bishop, Members of the Holy Synod and right reverend Fathers,

Beloved Superiors of our religious congregations

(Ain Traz, 21-25 June 2010) We thank the Saviour who has brought us together today in this year's synod as brothers in faith and partners in care, as pastors and servants of the Word of God and of our fellow human beings.

Hearty greetings and best wishes to you, and my prayer for you and the faithful of your eparchies and the members of your religious orders and congregations!

We remember the soul of our deceased brother Archbishop Antoine Hayek who departed into the joy of his Lord on the first Saturday of April. We presided over the funeral in his hometown of Maghdouche with a group of brother bishops.

In this year dedicated to the priest and the priesthood, our parishes have engaged in different activities to commemorate this year. God arranged in his divine mercy for us to encounter this year three Apostles, three Messengers of Jesus Christ's glory. I would like to review for you aspects of these three Apostles Thomas, Paul and James.