OC

Communiqué  -  Malta, 14–21 October 2017
In the name of the Triune God, and with the blessing and guidance of our Churches, the International Commission for Anglican–Orthodox Theological Dialogue met in Sliema, Republic of Malta from 14 to 21 October 2017.

Telkaif (Agenzia Fides) - In the late evening of Tuesday, 24 October, the Christians of Telkaif, an Iraqi town located in the Nineveh Plain, abandoned their homes and moved to Qosh and other neighboring villages. Peshmerga fighters from neighboring Kurdistan

The President of Bulgarian bishops considers EU adhesion an important step towards democracy and economic development. However, problems linger on, and today, he said, we are witnessing widespread “apathy” and distance from the community dream.

In this country, it is women – not religious dignitaries – who decide on whether to have children.  This is according to the chair of the Serbian National Assembly Committee on Human and Minority Rights, Meho Omerovic, who reacted on Wednesday.

'The reinstitution of the female diaconate does not constitute an innovation..but the revitalisation of a once functional ministry.
The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa is to reinstitute the ancient order of women deacons, in order to better serve the pastoral needs of the Patriarchate, which serves the entire continent of Africa.

Beirut (Agenzia Fides) - Some dozen Iraqi Christian refugees organized a demonstration in Beirut on Wednesday, 11 October in front of the offices of the High Commissioner for Refugees to ask the competent authorities to remove the

Telkaif (Agenzia Fides) - The "Babylonian Brigades", formation of popular protection militias who also count Christian militias in their ranks, have told the Kurdish militia Peshmerga to abandon all areas of the Nineveh Plain under their control, receiving the rejection of

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office of Migration and Refugee Services (USCCB/MRS), released its report today, entitled Temporary Protected Status: A Vital Piece of the Central American Protection and Prosperity Puzzle recommending the U.S. government

'It's also in our common interest to protect the borders of a humane society' A Hungarian bishop has organised a petition demanding

In a keynote speech during the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavík, Iceland, Ecumenical Patriarch His All-Holiness Bartholomew I termed their purpose “a fresh deliberation on the fate of the earth.”

“Reducing the sense of isolation of the Christian Palestinian community; encouraging charity towards parish communities to reduce extreme poverty; contributing to economic development through small development projects.” These are the three goals of the

“Dialogue is not relativism. Relativism has no inner strength and stands, its powerless hands down, before any historical event. The walk of dialogue instead enables people to look joyfully at other people, to overcome an atmosphere of

An encouragement to support local ecclesial communities and gratefulness for the work of contemplation, research and study of archaeological evidence and for accompanying pilgrims: this is the content of the letter that Pope Francis has sent to the Custos of

(Peter Anderson) Yesterday (Wednesday), the Press Office of the Romanian Patriarchate issued the official program for the Pilgrimage to the Feast of the Holy Martyr Dimitrie the New, Protector of Bucharest, which will take place from 24 to 29 October 2017. As I previously reported, this

BERLIN- 18 October 2017: Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria and Patriarch of Saint Marks Diocese slammed Wednesday all kinds of terrorism, saying that the terrorist attacks, which hit Egypt, did not and would not achieve their goals.

People displaced by fighting eat lunch inside a heated tent at a train station during evacuations in 2015 in the Ukrainian city of Slaviansk. The Catholic bishop responsible for eastern Ukraine has backed calls for the deployment of international peacekeepers and praised

The Saint Irenaeus Joint Orthodox-Catholic Working Group gathered for its fourteenth annual meeting from 4 to 8 October 2017 at Caraiman Monastery (Romania), at the invitation of the Romanian Orthodox Church. The 2017 meeting was chaired by the Catholic Co-president of the Working Group,

Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch of the Church of Constantinople Bartholomew visited the Russian embassy in Ankara, where

The march by Israeli and Palestinian women, demanding that both peoples’ leaders do more for peace, was set to culminate with a protest outside Netanyahu’s residence.

“All of us, shepherds of the Eastern Catholic Churches of Europe, are comforted by the love of the Lord in our ecclesial service, by the Divine Grace that heals our weaknesses, and by the Lord’s love for his Church that drives us to proclaim his Gospel”.

From 2009 to July 2017, over 50 Christian and Muslim sites were vandalized in Israel and in the West Bank, only nine indictments were filed and only 7 people convicted. The figures released by Israel’s Public Security Minister were published by Saint James’ Vicariate for Hebrew-speaking Catholics of the Salesian monastery of Beit Jamal, west of

“Although it is a somewhat weary and disappointed, Europe must not give up.” “The dream of this union as a ‘family of peoples’ and ‘home of the nations’ is always topical.” This was the opening message of the CCEE Plenary Assembly (ongoing until October 1st) attended by 29 Presidents of

“Iraq, going back to our roots”: it’s the title of an international conference promoted by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that will take place in Rome, September 28, at the Pontifical Lateran University during which will be presented a project for the reconstruction of 13 thousand homes damaged or destroyed

60.8% of respondents believe that migration from Islamic Countries is “a threat to Western societies”, while Islam is viewed as a traditionalist religion, unable to adapt to the present times (65.5%). These are the findings of a research conducted by the CDEC Foundation – Contemporary Jewish documentation Centre -, and by

(Vatican Radio) Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, on Thursday praised a "so-called Marshall Plan"  that seeks to encourage and support Iraqi Christians to return to their homes in the Nineveh Plain area of northern Iraq.

MINSK, 28 September (BelTA) – There is a suggestion to organize a meeting between Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis in Minsk, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said at the meeting with representatives of the Plenary Assembly of the Council of European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE) on 28 September, BelTA has learned. “We talked about the results of the meeting between the Pope and Patriarch Kirill, which took place somewhere far away, in Cuba. I think we should consider their meeting here, in Minsk. This is the place where the problems of the West and the East, the North and the South can be discussed,” the Belarusian leader said.
Read full text at: http://eng.belta.by/president/view/lukashenko-suggests-meeting-of-patriarch-kirill-pope-francis-in-minsk-105356-2017/
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MINSK, 28 September (BelTA) – There is a suggestion to organize a meeting between Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis in Minsk, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said at the meeting with representatives of the Plenary Assembly of the Council of

His Excellency ENRIQUE PEÑA NIETO - President of the United Mexican States 

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (Reuters) - Pope Francis said he hoped U.S. President Donald Trump would re-think his decision to end a program protecting undocumented immigrant children, saying it was important for young people to have roots.

On 18 September 2017, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, arrived in Istanbul.

“Encounter and dialogue disarm the violent and stop them, for we know that war is never holy, and whoever kills in God’s name has no place among religions, nor among mankind.” It’s the appeal for peace that religious leaders proclaimed in Osnabrück upon the conclusion of the interreligious meeting “Paths of Peace”, promoted.