Białystok, Poland, March 18, 2020
The Prince Konstanty of Ostrog medal. Photo: pravoslavie.ru
At the beginning of this year, Pravoslavie.Ru, the website of the Pskov Caves Monastery in Pechory, Russia, was granted the Prince Konstanty of Ostrog award for its outstanding contribution to the development of Orthodox spirituality, thought, and culture, as well as for activities aimed at Church unity, reports the Prince Konstanty of Ostrog Foundation.
The jury for the 31st annual awards was chaired by Deputy Eugene Chivkin, editor-in-chief of the Polish journal “Przegląd Prawosławny” (“Orthodox Bulletin”).
128 people and organizations from various countries around the world have already received the award in years past, including hierarchs, theologians, musicians, iconographers, writers, architects, Slavists, and historians.
“In awarding you, we would like to note your sacrificial service for the benefit of the holy Orthodox Church, as well as your great educational, informational, missionary and cultural activities,” reads the letter sent to the editorial office of Pravoslavie.Ru.
“The website covers complex issues of Church life, for example, in Ukraine, the Middle East, and more recently, in Montenegro. It is a source of information not only for a wide audience, but also for researchers of religion, becoming one of the most visited sites on religious topics in the world,” reads the Foundation’s report.
As the foundation notes, the website provides information in Russian, Serbian, and Greek, as well as English, via OrthoChristian.com. According to Rambler statistics, the site is visited by 1.3 million people per month.
The same award was bestowed upon His Eminence Metropolitan Tikhon of Pskov and Porkhov, the founder of Pravoslavie.Ru, in 2009.
Other winners in 2020 include His Holiness Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia, the Brotherhood of Orthodox Youth in Poland, and others.
As the Foundation notes, Pat. Ilia has been instrumental in reviving Orthodoxy in Georgia. The Brotherhood, founded in 1980, was the first organization of lay people from the former bloc of communist countries. It organizes walking pilgrimages and publishes spiritual literature. Many members have gone on to become priests, matushkas, and monastics, as well as founders of foundations and associations dedicated to the development of Orthodox spirituality and culture and the preservation of traditions.
The award ceremony will take place during the opening of the Church Music Festival in Gainovka, Poland on May 11, 2020.
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Prince Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski (February 2, 1526–February 13 or 23, 1608) was an Orthodox magnate of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was active in supporting the Orthodox faith and Eastern Christian culture. Around 1576 he founded the Ostrog Academy, which published the first complete printed edition of the Bible in Old Church Slavonic in 1581.
