NEWS 

Archbishop Christodoulos: “Our Thoughts are with the Youth”

An Astonishing Initiative Taken by Children

"Paul, Apostle of Greece, Apostle of Europe"

Serbian Orthodox Church warns of new Balkan tensions if Kosovo wins independence

President Casini: We Support the Lay Status of the State, not State Secularism



NEWS 

Archbishop Christodoulos: “Our Thoughts are with the Youth”

Referring to the various moral, physical and spiritual dangers which threaten to draw us away from our foundation of faith and our tradition, His Beatitude turned his attention to the youth of our country when speaking during the Divine Liturgy at the Holy Church of St Dimitrios of the Municipality of the same name, which was celebrating its Patronal feast .

"Today", Archbishop said, "our thoughts turn to all the children of the world, to those that are hungry, who are refugees, turned away from their homelands, to the children who become objects of exploitation by those who have neither heart nor soul, to the sick children, those who are drug users and are in danger of losing the vision of their lives, to the youth who are being tested by joblessness. The Grace of God and His power can support their hearts that they may stand on their feet".

Archbishop Christodoulos has called on parents to "work night and day so that your children can live in a better world than ours, that you may hand down to them something better than what our fathers handed down to us".

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An Astonishing Initiative Taken by Children

Children from Primary and High Schools and Lyceums of the city of Polykastros (Northern Greece) undertook an original and commendable initiative. Aiming at supporting the construction of the Parish Church of the Holy Trinity, they have distibuted a quadruple CD entitled "EALO I POLIS" (the City [Constantinople] is Captured). In this production, the children recite extracts from historic novels and works by well-known authors and historians. Their narration is accompanied by appropriate music.

An important part of the effort is that the funds for the publication of this quadruple CD are covered by income received mainly from an exhibition of works made by the children at various feasts of the Metropolitanate of Goumenissa. Through their work, the children are the sponsors of the publication! Around 60 children worked in many ways on the production of the CD.

Certainly, the acceptance of the publication by the people will be the best ovation for the efforts of these children. For information: Holy Church of the Holy Trinity, Polykastros, mobile tel: 6975.860817.

From this e-newsletter, we can say: "We’re proud of you, kids! ".

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"Paul, Apostle of Greece, Apostle of Europe"

A pan-Hellenic competition, the subject of which is: "Paul, Apostle of Greece, Apostle of Europe", will take place during the first five months of 2006 in our country's schools, following a proposal by the Holy Synod and under the mutual ausipces of both the Holy Synod and the Ministry of Education.

According to a document which was sent by the Ministry of Education (24/10/2005) to all the Area Management Education Centres, "the competition is aimed at pupils in Primary and High Schools anid its objective is that they become sensitive to and active in the promotion of the local, religious, cultural and historic heritage, as it developed by the presence of the Apostle Paul in the areas through which he travelled".

The objectives of the competition, in which participation is voluntary, are for the pupils to develop a geuine spirit of research in approaching local history, to apply themselves using the method of working co-operatively in groups, for the systematic and organized collection, research, evaluation and preservation, through a written essay, poster, photographs, dvd, video, important religious monuments, which are directly related with the Apostle Paul, to seek and to critically approach the existing historial sources, documents from local archives, old publications, in order to form the historic and cultural profile of the area in relation to the Apostle Paul and others.

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Serbian Orthodox Church warns of new Balkan tensions if Kosovo wins independence

Serbia's Orthodox Christian Church warned Friday of new tensions in the Balkans if the province of Kosovo is granted independence at upcoming U.N.-brokered talks.

Patriarch Pavle, the head of the Church, urged the international community to abide in those negotiations by "principles of justice as the foundation of international law and order."

Independence for Kosovo would mean "it is possible to snatch away the territory of a democratic country in Europe before the eyes of the entire world," the Patriarch said in a televised address.

"Such an act of highjacking, as veiled as it would be, would still constitute occupation of sovereign Serbian land," he said.

The Church's warning, issued in a statement, and the Patriarch's television appeal reflected the strongest support to date for the Serbian government position that Kosovo must not be split from Serbia, despite an independence drive by most of its majority ethnic Albanian population.

"A just solution can only be found through negotiations," the church statement said. "It (the solution) must not be one-sided and imposed ... because that would lead to a mass exodus of the population and fresh tensions in the Balkans with unforeseeable consequences."

Kosovo, formally a province in Serbia, has been run by the United Nations and NATO since 1999, when the Alliance bombed Serbia for 78 days to force it to end a crackdown against ethnic Albanian separatists. The U.N. Security Council has approved the start of talks later this month to determine the province's future status. Although it has had no authority over Kosovo for more than six years, Belgrade is hoping to keep at least formal control over the region, which most Serbs consider the cradle of their history and culture.

The Serbian Church, whose ancient seat and hundreds of medieval monasteries are located in Kosovo, has been a harsh critic of Western policies in the province. The church said it has a "vital interest" to protect its holy places in Kosovo, and called for special protection zones around Serb religious sites in the province.

Dozens of Kosovo Serb religious monuments have been destroyed by extremist ethnic Albanians, most of whom are Muslims, since 1999. More than 200,000 Serbs and other non-Albanians fled the province in the face of attacks and harassment, AP reported. Source: Pravda

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President Casini: We Support the Lay Status of the State, not State Secularism

"There are people in Europe who confuse the lay status of the State with State secularism. We support a lay State that respects God and religion", said the President of the Italian Lower House Pier Ferdinando Casini, speaking to a delegation of regional parliamentarians from Bavaria led by the CSU President Edmund Stoiber.

Casini emphasized that "we are against the vision of the lay State that does not recognise the Christian roots of Europe and of Italy". Source: AGI

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