Latest news with #Orthodox
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Egypt could close world's oldest Christian monastery
Egypt could close the oldest continuously functioning monastery in the world, prompting fury from Christians. St Catherine's, at the foot of Mount Sinai, was built by the order of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I between 548 and 565 and has operated as a religious community ever since. However, a court ruling in Cairo has sparked fears that the Orthodox institution will be forcibly turned into a museum and its approximately 20 monks evicted. According to the Egyptian press, the court ordered that ownership of the monastery's land be transferred to the Egyptian state. It has been reported that the decision was taken so the building could be converted into a museum. Less than a month ago, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Egypt's president, publicly reassured the Greek government that the monastery would continue. Late on Thursday, his office issued a statement pledging 'full commitment to preserving the unique and sacred religious status of Saint Catherine's Monastery and preventing its violation'. However, there is widespread concern in the Christian world that the court ruling will result in the forcible closure of the monastery and the eviction of the monks. Mount Sinai holds theological significance because it is reputed to be where God spoke to Moses through the burning bush, tasking him with leading the chosen people out of Egypt. It is also the reported location where the 10 Commandments were handed down to Moses. St Catherine's Basilica, with its intricate mosaics, is considered a treasure trove of Byzantine-era religious art. News of the court ruling prompted an impassioned protest from Ierenemos II, the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece. 'Following yesterday's scandalous ruling, a violent infringement of human rights and, more specifically, of religious freedoms by Egypt's judicial authorities, the world's oldest Orthodox Christian monument, the Monastery of Mount Sinai, is entering a period of great trial – one that evokes memories of darker times in history,' a statement read. 'I unequivocally condemn any attempt to alter the longstanding status that has prevailed in this region for fifteen centuries. I call upon the responsible Greek government – and personally upon prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis [of Greece] – to take immediate and appropriate action to restore lawful order and ensure that the Holy Monastery is not effectively abolished.' Meanwhile, Greek government sources said they would attempt to work with the Egyptian authorities to hold the country to the commitments given by President Sisi during his visit to Greece on May 7. A spokesman for Mr Sisi's office said: 'The Presidency affirms that the recent court ruling consolidates this status, aligning with the points President El-Sisi emphasised during his recent visit to Athens on May 7. 'The Presidency also affirms the importance of preserving the close and fraternal relations that bind the two countries and peoples and ensuring that they are not jeopardised.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Kuwait Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Kuwait Times
Fire walkers defy pain in ancient Greek ritual
Under a cloud of incense smoke, a group of men and women in a village in northern Greece swayed slowly to the music before removing their shoes and rushing, barefoot, onto waiting embers. The fire walking ritual, held on the day of the Orthodox feast of Saint Constantine and Saint Helena on May 21, has been practiced for over a century in four villages of the Greek region of Macedonia, which borders Bulgaria. Each year, this ceremony -- called "Anastenaria" ("sighs" in Greek) -- attracts crowds of visitors. Considered a pagan ritual to honor the ancient Greek gods Dionysus and Artemis, the ancient custom was once banned by the powerful Greek Orthodox Church. For the past several decades, cooler heads have prevailed. But the rite remains shrouded in mystery. "Those who walk on fire don't like to talk about it much," explained Sotiris Tzivelis, 86, who grew up in the village of Agia Eleni, near the city of Serres. "Back then, when someone fell ill, we would call the 'anastenarides' to help heal them," he told AFP. The family requesting help would make a special handkerchief, to be blessed during the ceremony. It is one of these handkerchiefs that the ceremony leader, Babis Theodorakis, gives participants to mark the start of the ritual in the "konaki" -- a room decorated with Orthodox icons where participants prepare by dancing to the sound of the lyre and the drum. When ready, they head to a nearby meadow and form a circle around the glowing embers. "I have never walked on fire, but every year, I give our family's handkerchief to the dancers before taking it back at the end of the ritual," said Tzivelis. Musicians play traditional Greek music as a select group of faithful known as "Anastenarides" take part in a trance-like preparatory dance before walking on hot coal during a religious ritual ceremony in the northern Greek village of Agia Eleni.--AFP photos A select group of faithful known as "Anastenarides" take part in a trance-like preparatory dance before walking on hot coal. Men light a fire to prepare the burning embers before a select group of faithful known as "Anastenarides" walk on hot coal. A faithful known as "Anastenarides" walks on hot coal. A select group of faithful known as "Anastenarides" walk on hot coal. A faithful known as "Anastenarides" shows their feet after walking on hot coal. Pagan ritual According to local tradition, the rite originated in the villages of Kosti and Brodivo in southeastern Bulgaria, where Greek communities lived before emigrating to Greece in the early 20th century with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. "How to walk on fire without getting burned, I can't explain it to you!" said Babis Theodorakis, the ceremony leader. Apostolis Vlaspos, 65, who has practiced the ritual for 20 years, described it as "something internal, an indescribable force". "The first time I walked on fire, I saw the image of Saint Constantine, whom we call 'grandfather', and I felt like an electric shock," he said. After circling the glowing embers three times, participants begin to walk on them, swaying to the music and clutching icons under their arms. When they return to the "konaki", visitors rush to photograph them and check that they have no burns on their feet -- proof of a miracle, according to believers. The ceremony concludes with a meal of mutton specially slaughtered for the occasion. "Those who say that people walking on fire are in a trance are wrong," said villager Kostas Liouros, 67. "What happens to them is natural and requires mental peace and great concentration," he explained. "Some say we drink alcohol or that before removing our socks and shoes, we coat our feet with herbs and things like that, but none of that is true," added another participant, who declined to give his name. — AFP
Epoch Times
3 days ago
- Health
- Epoch Times
French Lawmakers Back Assisted Suicide Law
France's lower house of parliament approved a bill on Tuesday to legalize assisted suicide, paving the way for medical professionals to help adults with incurable illnesses end their lives by taking a lethal substance. The bill, passed on May 27 by a vote of 305–199, would grant the right to assisted suicide to any French citizen over 18 suffering from a serious or incurable condition that is life-threatening, advanced, or terminal. According to the legislation, a team of medical professionals must confirm that the patient has a grave and incurable illness 'at an advanced or terminal stage' and is suffering. Anyone found to have obstructed someone's right to assisted suicide could face a two-year prison sentence and a 30,000 euro ($32,500) fine. The final passage of the long-debated bill is now heading to the Senate. Socialist Party lawmaker Olivier Falorni The Association for the Right to Die With Dignity (ADMD) also celebrated the move. Related Stories 5/14/2025 5/16/2025 'This is a time of joy for those of us who see hope in a dignified end of life, spared from unbearable suffering and needless agony,' ADMD said in a The official French government website Vie-Publique said that under the After administering the lethal substance, the doctor or nurse does not need to remain at the bedside but must stay nearby and within sight to intervene if necessary, it states. The full cost of assisted dying will be covered by France's national health insurance. Health professionals can refuse to take part in assisted suicide under a 'conscientious objection clause' but must refer the patient to another practitioner, it says. Eddy Casterman, a lawmaker with the Identity-Liberties party, voted against the bill. He said it was 'a dangerous slope.' In a May 27 post on Speaking at the Grande Loge de France on May 5, a prominent French Freemasonry Masonic lodge founded in 1894, Macron referred to assisted suicide as a 'lesser evil.' He also thanked the Freemasons for working extensively on the 'end-of-life debate.' Catholic French bishops denounced his remarks. 'No, Mr. President, the choice to kill and to help kill is not the lesser evil,' Archbishop Moulins-Beaufort said in a statement posted to 'It is simply death. This must be said without lying and without hiding behind words. Killing cannot be the choice of brotherhood or dignity. It is the choice of abandonment and refusal to help until the end. This transgression will weigh heavily on the most vulnerable and lonely members of our society.' Other religious leaders have voiced opposition to the legislation. This month, the Conference of Religious Leaders in France, which represents the Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist communities, said in a joint statement that the proposed French patients seeking to end their lives have often traveled abroad, particularly to Belgium and the Netherlands, where euthanasia has been legal since 2002. Spain authorized euthanasia in 2021, followed by Portugal in 2023. In the UK, lawmakers are Reuters contributed to this report.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
'Istanbul is very good' — Lavrov backs Turkey again for next round of Russia-Ukraine peace talks
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on May 27 that Moscow would welcome a second round of peace talks with Ukraine in Istanbul, he said during a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. "If you ask me, I would turn to our Turkish friends again — Istanbul is very good," Lavrov said, according to state-owned news agency TASS. The proposal comes as global diplomacy searches for a venue for negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow after the May 16 talks failed to achieve the ceasefire Ukraine has pushed for. President Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 19 that Ukraine is open to a new round of talks in Turkey, Switzerland, or the Vatican. Lavrov, however, cast doubt on the Vatican as a host, arguing that it would be an unsuitable platform for talks between "Orthodox countries." The Turkish foreign minister, who met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kremlin negotiator Vladimir Medinsky during his visit, reaffirmed Ankara's readiness to facilitate future talks. Fidan is expected to travel to Ukraine later this week following his two-day trip to Moscow. Turkey previously hosted peace negotiations in March 2022. Since then, Ankara has maintained active contact with both Kyiv and Moscow and facilitated multiple prisoner exchanges, as well as the now-defunct Black Sea Grain Initiative. No official date or venue for a second round of talks has been agreed. The renewed discussion about potential locations follows a May 19 call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Putin. During the call, Putin rejected Ukraine's proposal for an immediate ceasefire and instead suggested preparing a "memorandum" outlining a future peace framework. Since the call, Russia has launched one of its most intense waves of aerial attacks, including more than 600 drones and dozens of missiles over a single weekend. Read also: Why Trump needs to follow through and trigger the 'downfall of Russia' We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Euronews
4 days ago
- Politics
- Euronews
Why Russia is unlikely to let the Vatican mediate Ukraine peace talks
The prospect of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine being mediated by Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican is unlikely due to the influence of Russian Orthodoxy and Moscow's mistrust of the Catholic Church, according to political analysts and religious figures. Shortly after being elected, Pope Leo XIV said that the Vatican could act as a mediator in global conflicts, without specifically mentioning Russia's war against Ukraine. He later confirmed it to Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, saying the Vatican was indeed willing to host the next round of negotiations to try to put an end the war between Russia and Ukraine. After Kyiv and Moscow's direct talks in Istanbul yielded almost no progress, US President Donald Trump also mentioned the Vatican as a possible venue, following a conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. According to a recent statement by the Vatican's Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the pontiff plans to "if necessary, provide the Vatican, the Holy See, as a direct meeting (place) between the two sides". Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy travelled to the Vatican earlier this month and met Pope Leo XIV following his inaugural Mass. Zelenskyy is in favour of peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow being held at the Vatican, Ukraine's foreign minister confirmed to Euronews last week. However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticised the idea, saying that it would be "a bit inelegant for Orthodox countries to use a Catholic platform" for talks. Moscow's wariness of mediation by the Vatican predates Pope Leo XIV, according to Pasquale Ferrara, the director general for political affairs at Italy's foreign ministry, and a professor of diplomacy and negotiation at the LUISS University in Rome. "I don't think Putin sees the Vatican as having the necessary neutrality," Ferrara told Euronews. "This scepticism existed even under Pope Francis and is rooted in the long-standing coolness between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church." That tension has deep historical roots, stretching back to the Great Schism of 1054, when Christianity split into the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. In August 2024, the Ukrainian parliament passed a bill banning activities of religious organisations connected to Russia and those that have administrative centres there. The legislation specifically targets the activities of the Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), which is legally subordinate to the Russian Orthodox Church, the leading church in Russia and a close ally of the Kremlin, fully supporting Moscow's war in Ukraine. All UOC-MP communities were given nine months to fully break ties with the Russian church. Ukraine's Security Service accused a number of clergymen of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate of collaborating with the Krmelin and justifying Russian aggression. Over 100 UOC-MP clergy members have come under criminal investigation since the outbreak of the full-scale war, the Security Service of Ukraine said. Once a dominant religious group in Ukraine, the past few years have seen many Moscow Patriarchate communities switch allegiance to independent churches, namely the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate. Founded in 2018 as an institution representing Ukrainian Orthodoxy fully independent of Moscow, it was granted the tomos of autocephaly — a document signifying canonical independence — by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, the most senior priest of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Moscow Patriarchate hasn't recognised the decision and later tried to portray the Ukrainian government's steps against the Moscow-linked church as "persecution of Christians." The head of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), Patriarch Kirill, has been an ardent supporter of the war and a vital ally for Putin. Patriarch Kirill's vocal support for Putin's war has drawn criticism from the likes of Pope Francis and was dubbed a 'heresy' by other religious authorities. Dubbed the Tobacco Metropolitan for his alleged profiteering off of duty-free cigarettes in the 1990s, Patriarch Kirill fiercely maintains his pro-war stance, blaming the invasion on "gay parades" and making unproven claims that Ukrainians have been "exterminating" Russian civilians in the Donbas. In early May 2022, attempts by Brussels to add Kirill to the EU's list of sanctioned Russian nationals led to tensions among European leaders after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán blocked the move. The ROC's stance has seen some Orthodox Churches cut ties with the Moscow Patriarchate, including one in Amsterdam. Bishop Hlib Lonchyna, a Ukrainian Greek Catholic prelate, expressed his doubt about Russia's willingness to genuinely engage in peace talks or accept the Vatican as a mediator. "Pope Leo XIV has no influence over Russia. They don't recognise our Church at all," he told Euronews. The Vatican has a long history of mediating wars, conflicts and political disagreements, although it tends to work behind the scenes and avoid publicising its efforts. One of its greatest achievements in recent history was facilitating the talks between the US and Cuba in 2014 that ultimately resulted in the resumption of diplomatic relations. The Vatican has also often hosted far less secret diplomatic initiatives, such as when it brought together the rival leaders of war-torn South Sudan in 2019. The encounter was made famous by the image of Pope Francis kissing their feet to beg them to make peace. However, for the Kremlin, the idea of Pope Leo XIV mediating peace talks may be seen as an extension of the Catholic Church's Western legacy, according to Ferrara of the Italian foreign ministry. Ultimately, successful mediation depends less on the identity of the mediator and more on the parties' genuine willingness to seek peace, he said. "Russia has not shown the kinds of signals that would indicate a real desire to negotiate," Ferrara added. On 16 May, Russia and Ukraine held their first face-to-face discussions since shortly after Moscow's full-scale invasion. During the talks in Istanbul, the two sides agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war each, in what is the biggest such swap to date. The discussions delivered no wider breakthrough on resolving Russia's war, and no further direct peace talks are scheduled, the Kremlin said last week. Moscow has had no issues with Ankara playing the host. Nonetheless, Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga said last week that he believed that the Vatican could still act as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine. "It is very difficult, yes, but everything is possible with Pope Leo XIV — he enjoys the trust of global leaders," he told the Italian newspaper La Stampa. Ferrara also said that the Vatican may have a role to play, despite the challenges. "We should not be too sceptical about the constructive role religion can play in building a new international order," he added. Spain has failed to obtain the necessary unanimity to elevate Catalan, Galician and Basque into official languages of the European Union, as several member states raised concerns over the administrative and legal implications of such an unprecedented move. The result materialised during a meeting of EU affairs ministers on Tuesday, where the issue was scheduled to be put to a formal vote. As the debate progressed, it became evident that the reservations in the room were enough to prevent consensus. "There was a large number of countries willing to support (the request), but there was a minority who asked for more time, and we decided to grant it," said Pilar Alegría, the chief spokesperson of the central government in Madrid. "We're going to continue working and discussing." The request dates back to 2023, when Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez secured the support of Catalan separatist lawmakers, who hold a small but crucial number of seats in the Spanish parliament, to form a minority government. As part of the investiture deal, Sánchez promised to bring to Brussels a proposal to amend Regulation 1/1958 and turn Catalan, Galician and Basque into official EU languages. The backing of regional parties has become more pressing after Sánchez unveiled a new budget with a steep hike in defence spending that needs the parliament's blessing. As of today, Regulation 1/1958 recognises 24 languages. The designation implies the translation of every legal act, including the daily publication of the official journal, and real-time interpretation during debates in the EU Council and the European Parliament. A first attempt to change the regulation was swiftly rejected in September 2023, despite Madrid offering to pay in full for the additional expenses. The fiasco prompted months of behind-the-scenes negotiations to convince the reluctant countries and secure the required unanimity. Spain asked for the issue to be put on the agenda on Tuesday morning, even if the arithmetic looked very uncertain in the lead up to the ministerial meeting. On arrival in Brussels, Joakim Strand, Finland's minister for European affairs, cast doubt over the request, arguing the issue was not "mature yet". "There are still some concerns that have been (raised) also by the Council legal service, and I think that's something we need to take very seriously," Strand told reporters. "I think linguistic diversity is important, and we're always constructive, and we want to continue the discussion." Sweden's Jessica Rosencrantz and Austria's Claudia Plakolm also highlighted the importance of respecting the EU's diversity, but echoed the concerns about the financial and legal implications that the triple designation would entail. The European Commission previously estimated the cost to be €132 million per year, with Catalan, Galician and Basque costing €44 million each. The assessment was preliminary, based on the past experience with Gaelic in Ireland. Spain's domestic settlement on language is unique in Europe. Under the country's constitution, enacted in 1978 after the end of the military dictatorship, the three languages gained co-official status in the regions where they are spoken and enjoy the same legal standing as Castilian. Catalan is spoken by more than 9 million people across Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands, as well as Andorra. Galician is a distant second, with around 2.5 million speakers in Galicia, the northwest corner of Spain. The Basque language or Euskara, which does not originate from Latin, is spoken by over 750,000 people in the Basque Country and Navarra, and also in the bordering areas of southern France. "This is not a matter of translating more or less documents, it is a matter of respecting the identity of European citizens," Catalonia President Salvador Illa told Euronews in February during an official visit to Brussels. "This is not, let's say, a political issue, or a political demand. I would put it from another angle. This is a fair measure from a linguistic point of view. There are 20 million citizens who speak these official languages."
