Eastern Orthodox Church

FILE - In this file photo dated Sunday, April 8, 2018, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, center, and his wife Maryna Poroshenko, right, cross themselves during Orthodox Easter in the Volodymyrskiy Monastery in Kiev, Ukraine. Ukraine’s president announced on Thursday Nov. 29, 2018, that the Constantinople patriarchy has approved a decree granting the Ukrainian Orthodox Church independence from the Russian Orthodox Church. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, FILE)
November 29, 2018 - 4:38 pm

President: Ukrainian Orthodox church will get independence

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's president announced Thursday that the Constantinople patriarchy has approved a decree granting the Ukrainian Orthodox Church independence from the Russian Orthodox Church, a major boost to the president's approval ratings. The Ukrainian church has formally been under...
Read More
FILE - In this Thursday Oct. 11, 2018 file photo, Patriarch Filaret, head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate, conducts a service at the Volodymysky Cathedral in Kiev, Ukraine. Tensions over the imminent formation of a Ukrainian Orthodox church independent of Moscow are raising fears that nationalists may try to seize Russian church properties. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, FILE)
October 21, 2018 - 2:19 am

Birth of a new Ukrainian church brings fears of violence

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Tensions are escalating in Ukraine as it prepares to establish a full-fledged Orthodox church of its own. The planned religious rupture from the Russian Orthodox Church is a potent — possibly explosive — mix of politics, religious faith and national identity. The imminent...
Read More
A Romanian Orthodox nun exits the voting booth, in Ciorogarla, Romania, Sunday, Oct. 7, 2018. Romanians are voting Sunday around the country for a second day on a constitutional amendment that would make it harder to legalize same-sex marriage. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
October 07, 2018 - 1:56 pm

The Latest: Turnout for Romania marriage measure below bar

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — The Latest on Romania's vote to change the definition of marriage (all times local): 7:40 p.m. Romania's referendum on a constitutional amendment to redefine marriage is failing to attract significant voter participation and is in danger of being voided. Election officials...
Read More
Head of the Romanian Orthodox church Patriarch Daniel exits a voting booth in Bucharest, Romania, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Two days of voting on a constitutional amendment that would make it harder to legalize same-sex marriage has started in Romania. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
October 07, 2018 - 2:30 am

Romanians vote on changing the definition of marriage

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romanians are voting for a second day on a constitutional amendment that would make it harder to legalize same-sex marriage. The Central Electoral Bureau said 5.72 percent of voters had cast a ballot Saturday in the two-day referendum. The vote requires a 30 percent...
Read More
Head of the Romanian Orthodox church Patriarch Daniel exits a voting booth in Bucharest, Romania, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. Two days of voting on a constitutional amendment that would make it harder to legalize same-sex marriage has started in Romania. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
October 06, 2018 - 6:31 am

Romanians vote on putting gay marriage ban in constitution

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romanians have begun two days of voting on a constitutional amendment that would make it harder to legalize same-sex marriage. The vote has raised concerns that non-traditional families will be discriminated against. A conservative group initiated the referendum being held...
Read More
FILE - In this Tuesday, May 25, 2010 file photo, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, left, and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill tour the Kremlin during a meeting in Moscow, Russia. The Russian Orthodox Church warned Friday Sept. 28, 2018, that it would sever ties with the leader of the worldwide Orthodox community if he grants autonomy to Ukraine's Orthodox Church. (Dmitry Astakhov, Sputnik, Government Pool Photo via AP, file)
September 28, 2018 - 12:38 pm

Russian Orthodox Church issues warning to Orthodoxy's leader

MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian Orthodox Church warned Friday that it would sever ties with the leader of the worldwide Orthodox community if he grants autonomy to Ukraine's Orthodox Church. The stern warning follows Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I's promise to allow the Orthodox Church in Ukraine to...
Read More
Pope Francis arrives to celebrate a Mass in Freedom Square, in Tallinn, Estonia, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018. Pope Francis concludes his four-day tour of the Baltics visiting Estonia. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
September 25, 2018 - 8:41 pm

Pope: Priestly abuse scandals driving Catholic faithful away

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Pope Francis conceded Tuesday that priestly sex abuse scandals are outraging the Catholic faithful and driving them away, and said the church must change its ways if it wants to keep future generations. Francis referred directly to the crisis convulsing his papacy on the...
Read More
President of Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid, right, welcomes Pope Francis as he arrives at the Kadriorg Presidential Palace in Tallinn, Estonia, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018. Pope Francis concludes his four-day tour of the Baltics visiting Estonia. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
September 25, 2018 - 5:36 am

The Latest: Pope acknowledges scandals driving people away

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The Latest on Pope Francis' visit to the Baltics (all times local): 11:35 a.m. Pope Francis has acknowledged that the sex abuse scandals rocking the Catholic Church are driving people away and said the church must change its ways if it wants to keep future generations...
Read More
Orthodox faithful attend a memorial service for the victims of a forest fire, inside a church at Mati village, east of Athens, Sunday, July 29, 2018. Hundreds of worshippers attended a memorial service in Mati for the dozens who perished in a wildfire that devastated the seaside resort. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis)
July 29, 2018 - 9:59 pm

Death toll from Greek wildfire reaches 91 as village grieves

MATI, Greece (AP) — Fire officials in Greece raised the death toll from a wildfire that raged through a coastal area east of Athens to 91 and reported that 25 people were missing Sunday, six days after Europe's deadliest forest fire in more than a century. Before the national fire service updated...
Read More
July 28, 2018 - 6:57 am

Putin calls Christianity foundation of Russian state

MOSCOW (AP) — Vladimir Putin says that the adoption of Christianity more than 1,000 years in territory that later became Russia marked the starting point for forming Russia itself. Putin's comments came Saturday in a ceremony marking the 1,030th anniversary of the adoption by Christianity by Prince...
Read More

Pages