Latest Eastern Orthodox Church News
Home blessed home: Local priest shares spring ceremony
ASHLAND, Ky. (AP) — If ever houses need to be blessed, it’s now. After more than a year of fighting an ongoing pandemic, most are ready for a cleansing and Father Mark Elliott of St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Huntington, West Virginia, is trying to bring them...
Romania OKs holding Easter celebrations despite virus surge
BUCHAREST (AP) — Romanian authorities announced Thursday that Easter celebrations in the deeply Christian country will go ahead in person this year, even though Romania is battling a surge of COVID-19 infections that is threatening to overwhelm its hospitals. The...
Cyprus Church says 'satanic' Eurovision entry must be yanked
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The Orthodox Church of Cyprus on Tuesday called for the withdrawal of the country’s controversial entry into this year’s Eurovision song contest titled “El Diablo,” charging that the song makes an international mockery of country’s moral foundations by...
AP PHOTOS: A month of holy days and festivals, amid pandemic
Worshippers burned aromatic incense sticks beneath red and yellow paper lanterns to celebrate the Lunar New Year outside a famed Taoist temple in Hong Kong. A holy man lay on the ground before an image of the Hindu goddess of learning during the Magh Mela festival in...
Police: Man hits priest, barricades self in Florida church
MELBOURNE, Fla. (AP) — A man struck a priest and barricaded himself inside a Florida church on Sunday before he was arrested by police, officials said. News outlets say that police officers in Melbourne, Florida, arrived to the Archangel Michael Coptic Orthodox Church...
Serbian Orthodox Church picks ally of president as patriarch
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbian Orthodox Church bishops elected an ally of the country’s populist president Thursday as the new leader who is succeeding the church patriarch who died after contracting the coronavirus. Bells tolled on the sprawling Saint Sava Temple in...
Cyprus Orthodox Church to restore historic homes amid outcry
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The head of Cyprus’ Orthodox Church on Wednesday pledged to rebuild a row of historic homes that were partially demolished next to an under-construction cathedral amid a public outcry over what government officials described as an “unlawful” action. ...
Priest punished for going to Trump rally before Capitol riot
LIMA, Ohio (AP) — An Orthodox priest in Ohio said he was suspended for attending President Donald Trump’s rally near the White House three weeks ago before a mob of supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. Father Mark Hodges said he was told by a church leader that he was...
