February 5, 2016, Friday -- Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill Will Meet in Cuba on February 12, 2016. IMPORTANT PRESS COMMUNIQUE FROM THE VATICAN Joint Press Release of the Holy See and of the Patriarchate of Moscow The Holy See and the Patriarchate of Moscow are pleased to announce that, by the grace of God, His [...]
Rivalry over material possessions has made us forget. . . So we no longer pursue plainness and simplicity of life. We no longer value stillness, which helps to free us from past defilement, but prefer a whole host of things which distract us uselessly from our true goal. Rivalry over material possessions has made us forget [...]
Chambesy, Switzerland. A group of delegates at the Fourth Pan-Orthodox Pre-Council Conference Orthodox Clear Way to Historic Pan-Orthodox Council After a five-day conference, called a “synaxis,” held during January in Chambesy, Switzerland, representatives of all 14 of the autocephalous (self-governing) Churches of the Orthodox Christian communion agreed to go forward with the “Great Pan-Orthodox [...]
January 21, 2016, Thursday -- The Stepinac Case "We are afraid that there are too many open questions and wounds which Cardinal Stepinac symbolizes. His canonization, to our great regret, would return the relations between Serbs and Croats, as well as between Catholics and Orthodox faithful, back to their tragic history... We ask you to remove [...]
Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning! We have heard the biblical text that, this year, guides the reflection during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which is going on this week, from January 18th to 25th. The passage from the First Letter of Saint Peter was chosen by an ecumenical group of Latvia, requested by [...]
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning! On this second Sunday of Advent, the liturgy places us in the school of John the Baptist, who preached a “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” And perhaps we ask ourselves, “Why do we have to convert? Conversion is for an atheist who becomes a believer or a [...]
We continue our series of occasional articles on the history and spirituality of the Orthodox and Eastern-rite Catholic Churches. Our hope is to deepen our understanding of the ties that bind us, and to slowly “build bridges” that may, at some future time, allow closer relations, and perhaps even full reunion, among our Churches. In that [...]
October 23, 2015, Friday — From Russia to Rome "The word mother can be traced back cleanly to Proto-Indo-European, as can father, brother and sister -- it appears in cognate form in languages like Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, and so forth, and it may go back further." —Discussion of the origin of the word "mother" on an [...]
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning! Today the Solemnity of Sts Peter and Paul is celebrated, as you know, by the universal Church, but particularly with joy by the Church of Rome, because in their witness, sealed in blood, she has her very foundations. Rome bears special appreciation and gratitude for these men of God, who [...]
June 10, 2015, Wednesday — Putin and Pope Francis President Putin came to Pope Francis this evening to speak about possible pathways to peace in Ukraine and the Middle East. Putin, who had been in Milan in northern Italy at a major international exposition on food worldwide, arrived a little after 6 p.m. -- about an [...]