Exarch

The gold-embroidered Epitaphios (liturgical vestment) dated to 1751 from the famous workshop of Mariora in Constantinople stands out among other exquisite works of art in a digital exhibition which draws on the collections of the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens.

Pope Francis has elevated the Bulgarian Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Sofia Diocese into Eparchy in Bulgaria assigning it the name of "Eparchy of Saint John XXIII of Sofia for Catholics of Byzantine-Slavic rite in Bulgaria".

Amid mounting tensions with the Russian Orthodox Church, the Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarchate is preparing to formally grant independence to the Church of Ukraine from Moscow in an Epiphany Day ceremony.

More specifically, Patriarch Vartholomaios will on Sunday give the tomos - the formal decree of autocephaly - to Metropolitan Epiphanius in Istanbul.

"The United States strongly supports religious freedom, including the freedom of members of groups to govern their religion according to their beliefs and practice their faiths freely without government interference," Sputnik cited a US State Department press release, which added:

"For the first time in the history of the Orthodox Church, it is faced with a real danger of a new big schism, this time not between the Christian East and West, but within the East itself.

The conflict between the Orthodox Church's two most important leaders over the independence of the Church in Ukraine deepened over the weekend, after the Russian Orthodox Church's Holy Synod announced that it was "suspending cooperation" with the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

The Secretary of State of the Vatican, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, arrived in Bulgaria on Sunday as Catholics around the world are celebrating Palm Sunday.

Cardinal Parolin will be on a two-day official visit to Bulgaria on Sunday and Monday on the invitation of Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and the Catholic Church in Bulgaria.