Orthodox Catholic Church

The ruling Social Democratic Party in Romania intends to organize a referendum this autumn to limit the constitutional definition of the family. This would effectively exclude the possibility of legalizing same-sex marriages, party leader Liviu Dragnea said, quoted by Reuters.

Romania's powerful Orthodox Church faces a credibility crisis, as its Synod sat for a two-day meeting on Thursday and Friday to discuss several cases of clerics recently accused of involvement in sexual scandals.

On July 25 the Orthodox Church commemorates the Dormition of Saint Anna, according to BGNES.

Saint Anna was a member of the Aaron family and mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

She is perceived as one of the main Christian symbols of maternity.

The fabled Ark of the Covenant is a wooden and gold box that is believed to hold the two stone tablets called the Ten Commandments.

It was lost to history and has never been re-discovered, but archaeologists suspect that it could be at the ancient site of Kiriath-Jearim in West Jerusalem.

On June 28-29, 2017 the Möjligheternas Mötesplats Conference was held in the Swedish city of Hultsfred, focusing on the issues of asylum and migration. Hultsfred is located about 1.5 hours away by automobile from the Greek Orthodox parish of Apostle Cleopas in Kalmar.

Russian heavy metal band Kipelov and its frontman, Valery Kipelov, have come up with a song about Serbia's loss of the former province of Kosovo, dwelling on the historic Battle of Kosovo in 1389 [between a Serbian prince and the Ottomans] and NATO's bombing of Serbia in the 1990s - which led to Kosovo's independence.

Gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying Coptic Christians south of the Egyptian capital on May 26, killing 24 people and wounding 25, officials said.

His Eminence Metropolitan Cleopas of Sweden and All Scandinavia met with the Mayor of the northern Athens district of Maroussi, Dr. George Patoulis, who also presides of Greece’s Central Union of Municipalities, during the latter’s visit to Stockholm, welcoming him to the Metropolitan Cathedral of St. George.

The Holy relics of St. Helen, mother of Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, will be displayed for the first time in Greece. Along with a section of the Holy Cross, the relics will be exhibited for pilgrimage in the Church of Agia Varvara (St Barbara) in Egaleo suburb of western Athens/Piraeus until June 15th 2017. Pilgrimage will be possible from the morning until 11 p.m. at night.

The Octave Day of Easter is marked by the Eastern Orthodox Church today, named Saint Thomas Sunday.

It commemorates the event of the Holy Apostle Thomas' touching the wounds of Christ.