On August 13 after the Divine Liturgy the funeral service for Metropolitan of Sourozh Anthony was held in the Cathedral of the Dormition and All Saints in London. At the funeral service the address of His Holiness Patriarch Alexis to Bishop Basil of Sergievo, the clergy and faithful of the Diocese of Sourozh was read out. It reads: "A man who truly became a father and friend for many people has left this world; a heart that burned with love for God and His Holy Church has ceased to beat; the mouth of a tireless preacher of the truth of the Gospel has fallen silent: with special poignancy we now hear the bitter words of the holy prophet David, "The days of man are as grass, he flourisheth as the flower of the field" (Ps. 102, 15)."

Saint Petersburg is celebrating its 300th anniversary. Emperor Peter the Great founded the city on the Neva on the 27th on May 1703. This day fell then on the feast of the Holy Trinity.

At present there are 560 Orthodox churches and chapels in Moscow with 959 clergy. There are 30 churches in the capital unable to hold services, 34 churches are still occupied by previous tenants, and 52 Moscow churches are still under construction. Also there are 4 monasteries and 4 convents. A number of choir director and iconography schools, as well as 135 church Sunday schools are established in Moscow.

Bulgaria's orthodox Patriarch Maxim awarded the ecclesiastical order "St. Tsar Boris" to Russian President Putin. This is the most important distinction of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and has not been conferred to a head of state for twenty years.

His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexis II observed his 74th Birthday on February 23, the Day of the Motherland Defenders. In two days, the Pimate of Russian Orthodox Church marked his Name day at the feast of Iberian icon of Mother of God and Holy hierarch of Moscow Alexis, the Wonderworker.

The Rev. Frederick C. Watson, the Anglo-Catholic rector of St. John's Episcopal Church has resigned his orders in the Episcopal Church, left his parish and joined the Russian Orthodox Church. In a letter to parishioners, Fr. Watson wrote, "It hurts me, because I have had to choose between those basic, bedrock beliefs that I have, and an Episcopal Church that no longer holds them." The resignation of Fr. Watson represents a continued growing disillusionment with the ecclesiastical leadership of Pennsylvania Bishop Charles E. Bennison.

On the 6th December 2002, St. Nicholas' Day, the economic committee of the Bulgarian parliament decided to introduce a change in the corporate tax law. According to it, businesses who donate up to 10% of their profit to denominations will have their taxes cut by the same amount of money. Only denominations registered by the state will be recipients of funds.

During excavations of the Perperikon fortress in Kurdzhali region in Sothern Bulgaria archaeologists found a sealed bronze cross which enclosed a piece of the True Cross of Christ. This is the first such discovery in Bulgarian history.

The Orthodox St.Tikhon Theological Institute celebrated on November 18 its 10th anniversary. On the same day celebration of the 85th anniversary of St.Tikhon election Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia. A solemn meeting was held in the Council Hall of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. St.Tikhon Institute is one of few Institutions of Orthodox Higher Education in Russia opened in post-Soviet time, where not only future clergy, but also laymen get religious education.

Early morning, on November 17, Albanian extremists attacked two Serbian Orthodox churches in the Pec area and caused great material damage. At approximately 24:00 hours in the Church of All Serbian Saints in Djurakovac, some 20 kilometers east of Pec, three powerful explosions took place which completely demolished the church interior. Not far from Djurakovac, in the village of Ljubovo (located between Istok and Banja) at approximately 6:00 hours in the morning the Church of St. Basil of Ostrog the Miracle Worker, built in 1939 was blown up and completely destroyed.

With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy memorial services (panikhidas) were served in Orthodox churches throughout Russia "for all innocently captured and killed, their names are known to Thee, oh Lord". The Russian Orthodox Church is mourning for the killed and is praying for the fastest recovering of all those wounded by the terrorists. Orthodox priests together with doctors and psychologists are assisting in rehabilitation of the released hostages in a number of hospitals in Moscow.

"We follow with great anxiety and agony the development of the episode of the Chechen terrorists. We condemn categorically this action and pray from the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem for the freedom of the hostages and the peace of the orthodox russian people."

The great majority of the Holy Synod opted to keep Koine Greek as it was spoken 2,000 years ago and used in New Testament texts. With "its beauty, strength and splendor," the traditional Liturgy of the Orthodox does much more for the faith than what punctilious understanding and explanation of each and every word might do, ecclesiastical sources explained.

Archimandrite Zacchaeus, Rector of St. Catherine’s Church served the panikhida, which was celebrated in English. Numerous people were in attendance at the service including: the American Ambassador to the Russian Federation, Mr. Alexander Vershbow, His Royal Highness, Prince Michael of Kent, Representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate, just to name a few.

Muslim gunmen had strangled to death a three-year-old boy in Indonesia's central Sulawesi region. The child was strangled to death during an attack by heavily armed Muslim attackers on the Christian village of Mayumba. Three adults had also been killed.

After two rounds of voting, the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America elected His Eminence, Archbishop Herman of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania as the new Metropolitan of the Orthodox Church in America on July 22, 2002, the opening day of the Church's 13th All-American Council.

Thousands of people stood in line - some for hours at a time - outside the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra since June 18 to get a glimpse of a relic said to be made from the wood of the cross on which Jesus was crucified. The holy cross was brought to the Lavra from the Greek Orthodox Sagmatha monastery. It was the first time for 900 years that the relic has left the walls of the monastery. "The cross is in the Lavra, in the heart of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, so that people can understand where the truth is and what they should strive toward", said Archimandrite Nektarty, head of the Sagmatha Monastery.

Between 50-60 tombstones at the old Serb Orthodox cemetery in Orahovac were found destroyed with UCK signs sprayed on them, said Dejan Baljosevic, the member of the Church committee and the deputy of the Local Community Office in the Municipal administration for Upper Orahovac and Velika Hoca. Together with two other members of the Church Committee delegation from Orahovac, he visited the old Serb Orthodox cemetery on June 10, 2002. The cemetery is situated in the Kosovo Albanian part of Orahovac.

During his 6 days' stay in Siberia the head of the Russian Orthodox Church took part in the festivities on occasion of Slav Literature and Culture Days in Novosibirsk, visited the University center in Tomsk, consecrated a chapel there and new buildings of the spiritual academy. Glorification of Siberian new martyrs perished for the faith which took place at the Ascention Cathedral of Novosibirsk on 23rd May has become the culmination event of the visit.

"I'm confident the House of Mercy in Minsk will become a specimen for creating such kind of houses in Belorussia and Russia", - said the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. The construction was conducted under the patronage of the president of Belorussia and Patriarch Alexy. The House of Mercy is built using new technologies and is designed for 160 people - orphans, disabled and aged people. On behalf of the Russian Church Patriarch granted to the House modern dentist equipment as a gift.

According to tradition, at noon on Holy Saturday the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Irinaios entered the shrine of the Holy Sepulchre with the Armenian Patriarch (a right of the Armenian Patriarch according to the conditions governing the pilgrimages). After Patriarch Irinaios prayed in the main chamber and the Holy Fire lighted his candles he came out to the Chapel of the Archangel where the Armenian Patriarch tried violently to grab the lighted candles from his hands so that he would go out first and give the Holy Light to the people outside the tomb.

Abstinence is in for Russians, thanks to new attention being paid to the Orthodox Church's observance of Lent. Trains, planes, trendy restaurants and even the Kremlin are offering special Lenten menus, with an array of vegetarian dishes that meet the church's dietary requirements for the weeks before Orthodox Easter, which is May 5 this year.

Inside the Church of the Nativity, a dozen wounded Palestinian gunmen are being cared for by a nun in the back of the grotto, the site where Christians believe the Virgin Mary gave birth. Palestinian fighters walk around the basilica with assault rifles slung across their backs, sleeping on pews or on the floor when not on watch duty.

On Tuesday, April 2, 2002, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Theodosius, Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, shared with members of the Holy Synod of Bishops his desire to retire from the office of Metropolitan of All America and Canada in July 2002. The members of the Holy Synod of Bishops granted Metropolitan Theodosius' request. The procedure by which a new Metropolitan is elected is being prepared and will be reviewed and finalized at a special session of the Holy Synod of Bishops which will be held at St. Tikhon’s Monastery on May 24, 2002.

The harassment of the clergy and faithful of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the Diocese of Dabro-Bosnia by the International forces in SFOR has yet to desist! Following the recent vandalizing and break-in of a church, school and other public buildings and homes in Celebici, another one of their targets was the parish home in the Gorazde parish.

The Authorities of Estonia have refused under various excuses the right of Orthodox Church of Estonia (Moscow Patriarchate) to be registered under its own name. This refusal not only outlaws the Church having existed on the territory of Estonia for centuries but also deprives it of the right to own property it used to own throughout all its history. This issue was studied at state and international levels: the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation made some statements addressing the authorities of Estonia whereas this issue was discussed at OSCE meeting last autumn.

"Papal missionaries in Russia talk sweetly about Christian unity and sister Churches. But St. Apostle James says "does sweet and bitter water pour from one and the same spring?" (Jam. 3:11) How does sweetness in Russia come together with bitterness in Ukraine?" There have been "beatings of Orthodox priests and believers, arson, and cordons of UNA-UNSO gunmen that barred Orthodox believers from the seized churches" in Ukraine, said Metropolitan Vladimir. "Pope John Paul II does not denounce such actions."

Survivors of a collision between a dredger and a container ship in which eight sailors died or are missing paid their last respects to their colleagues at a memorial service at the Russian Consulate March 19. The 30-minute memorial service in Wan Chai was led by the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Hong Kong, Metropolitan Nikitas, and conducted in English, Russian and Greek.

Metropolitan Timotheos of Corfu, who took part in landmark Greek Orthodox talks at the Vatican this week, died of a heart attack Friday, church officials said. He was 63.

During the visit of Vladimir Putin to Poland, on 11th of March in the afternoon, the first ladies of Russia and Poland Lyudmila Putina and Iolanta Kwasnewskaya visited the main Orthodox holy place of Warsaw - the Cathedral of Saint Mary Magdalene, Equal-to-the-Apostles. Iolanta Kwasnewskaya and Lyudmila Putina were met by the Head of Polish Orthodox Church Metropolitan Savva at the Cathedral's entrance. He told about the history of the Cathedral and its icons and showed the distinguished guests the underground church which is right under the Cathedral.

The lack of TV programs having spiritual and enlightening core will be made up through the TV journal "Orthodox Encyclopedia" which is to be shown on TVC channel each Saturday starting February, 16. The weekly review, blessed by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, shows to the TV audience deep strata of the Orthodox culture and the peculiarities of Eastern Christian tradition which has a thousand years history in Russia.

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Alexy II has not ruled out the possibility of the pope visiting Russia "under certain conditions." "At the moment this is impossible because religious expansion to Russian territory is under way", he told journalists on Wednesday. Patriarch is sure of the existence of proselytism in Russia. "Catholics are trying to convert people who were baptized and grew up as Orthodox Christians".

As Russian Orthodox believers marked Christmas under reckoning of the old Julian calendar, President Vladimir Putin toured the "Golden Ring" of historic religious towns east of Moscow. "Orthodoxy, which occupies a special place in Russian history, continues to play a paramount role in preserving the moral pillars of social life," said Putin in a Christmas message to the nation.

Just night before the holiday of St. George, the terrorist burned down the monastery which was small but represented big cultural value for Macedonia. St Gjorgija, in Golema Rechica, Tetovo area, dated from 14th century, was a monument of culture protected by the law, but obviously, not from the terrorists law.

On Tuesday, December 4, 2001, the second day of his one-week official visit to Moscow at the invitation of the Russian Orthodox Church, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Theodosius, Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, concelebrated the Divine Liturgy on the Great Feast of the Entrance of the Mother of God into the Temple [Old Style] with His Holiness, Patriarch Aleksy II of Moscow and All Rus.

The Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia declares that what lamentably occurred at the Holy Transfiguration Skete in Mansonville on November 9/22, 2001, was a direct violation of the directives given by the Sobor of Bishops for the resolution of the difficult situation that arose as a result of the removal from the premises of the Synod of the retired elder, His Eminence, the Most Reverend Metropolitan Vitaly by a group of irresponsible and openly antagonistic persons.

"The destruction of an embryo is equivalent to an abortion, in other words, a homicide," said Father Antoni Ilin, a spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate). "We condemn human cloning, whether for therapeutic or reproductive ends," he said. "From the moment of conception, the embryo is invested with human dignity and blessed with the gift of life. So-called therapeutic cloning is nothing other than the worst instrumentalization of a human being, sacrificed for the benefit of others."

The Russian President Vladimir Putin visited St Nicholas Cathedral, the Moscow Patriarchate's Representation in the United States, before his departure to Moscow after the completion of his official visit to the United States. The head of Russian Federation took part in a litia (a short requiem) service dedicated to all Orthodox Christians deceased in expatriation and during the times of disturbance in Russia and also to the victims of the terrorist attacks in Russia and in the United States.

As they received various pieces of information and communications, the members of the Council of Bishops were alarmed to learn that the persons who brought about Metropolitan Vitaly's departure from the Synod Building before the enthronement of the new Metropolitan and the conclusion of the Council of Bishops are using this in the spreading of various provocative rumors and to draw the Metropolitan, without his realizing it, into certain schismatic actions.

At the first ballot, the votes of Their Graces were distributed as follows: Archbishop Laurus - 12 votes; Archbishop Mark - 1 vote; Archbishop Hilarion - 1 vote; Bishop Benjamin - 1 vote; and three hierarchs abstained. Thus, the Right Reverend Laurus, having received 2/3 of the votes on the first ballot was, in accordance with the Order for the Election of the First Hierarch, elected the fifth First Hierarch of the ROCOR.

According to the information service of the Tetovo Archpriest department, more than 30 churches and monasteries are demolished by the Albanian terrorists in Tetovo crisis region in Macedonia. These facts were made public in the report which has been announced Tuesday by the diocese administrator Mirko Stankoski.

The session of Holy Synod of Russian Orthodox Church, which took place on October 6, adopted the address to the Hierarchical Council of Russian Orthodox Church outside of Russia, which is slated for October 23, 2001. "Brethren, the hour has struck for us to abandon all the disputes about the human truth, which should give way to the truth of God, - stated the address of Patriarch and the Synod of the Russian Church, - Offering mutual repentance, we are called to come to meet each other and to overcome old suspicion and strife."

One of the most prominent and forever memorable figures in the last century's Russian Orthodoxy worldwide, V. Rev. Protopresbyter Alexander Kiselyov, died early morning, October 3, at his home in Moscow's Donskoy Monastery.

"In the midst of a war zone brought about by pure evil, pure hatred, the workers were living proof that mankind is, by nature, good, that love is indeed greater than hatred, no matter how diabolical," Metropolitan Theodosius said. "Charity and love are synonymous, and where charity and love prevail, Christ prevails, reminding us as I was reminded this afternoon, that the words we chant on Holy Pascha - ‘Receive the light from the Light which is never overcome by darkness’ - can indeed bring hope and comfort, even in a war zone, even at Ground Zero."

No invitations had been extended to any Orthodox hierarchs, clergy or jurisdictions. In a letter to the VRev. Nathan D. Baxter, Dean of the Washington National Cathedral, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Theodosius wrote, "Orthodox Christians in America, numbering in the millions, feel that their own participation in the fabric and life of American society has been slighted by the absence of any Orthodox clergyman at this service that had as its purpose the joining together in prayer of the sorrowing people of this nation."

These horrific acts of terrorism have by their savagery and audacity instantly wrought a profound change in American society. Everywhere, the American people are weighed down by the magnitude of the loss of life, filled with indignation at those who have committed these senseless acts and their supporters abroad, and newly aware that much that they have taken for granted in their lives must now undergo a fundamental change.

The terrorist attack against the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center that killed an estimated 5,000 people Greek Orthodox Church, also destroyed tiny St. Nicholas located about 500 feet from ground zero.

The terrible tragedy has happened in the United States of America yesterday. Never known in the history terrorist attacks took away lives of the thousands people. People all around the world watched a monstrous sight on TV, refusing to believe in the reality of what was happening. We saw burnt and destroyed houses, bloody bodies of the injured, tears of ordinary Americans and we cried with them.

Events of this day, which have taken thousands of lives will be forever included in American and world history as one of the most tragic dates. The clergy and the laymen of the Parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate in the USA are deeply moved and touched with sorrow.

This morning, our minds and hearts were shocked beyond belief as images of terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon flashed across our television screens. As the subsequent events of this morning began to unfold – the collapse of the World Trade Center’s twin towers, the severe damage done to an entire wing of the Pentagon, the crash of an additional hijacked airliner near Pittsburgh, and the subsequent fear of further attacks against other cities and targets throughout the United States – the faith of a nation was severely tested in a manner hitherto unknown...

His Beatitude, Metropolitan Theodosius, returned to his duties as Primate of the Orthodox Church in America on September 4, 2001 following a four-month medical leave of absence. "We ask the faithful of our Church to continue praying for His Beatitude's health, especially as he returns to his heavy schedule of travels, meetings, and archpastoral visitations," said OCA Chancellor Fr. Kondratick.

The beginning of the episcopal service for the future Patriarch coincided with difficult times for the Church. "I knew it was a heavy Cross. Because a bishop puts through his heart the life of the Church, Her sorrows and troubles. And in the 60s any churchly activity met with the opposition of authorities, churches and monasteries were closed down by administrative means", - said Patriarch Alexy in his interview to an ITAR-TASS correspondent. At once the young bishop had to fight an attempt to close down one of the sacred places of Estonia - the Piukhtitsy monastery, which he managed to save.

Russia is "the guardian of Christianity," President Vladimir Putin said Monday, following a visit to a monastery in the Solovki islands, in the White sea, Russian agencies reported... "Our spiritual prayers have taught us over the centuries to respect all peoples. It is important to remember that today," said the President.

Amid cries of "axios" (he is worthy), Metropolitan Irineos, one of the candidates rejected by the Israeli government a month ago, was elected Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem in a colorful ceremony in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

Today the Presidents of Russia and the Ukraine Vladimir Putin and Leonid Kuchma visited the ruins of the ancient Chersonese on the outskirts of Sevastopol. The ceremony of the consecration of the Vladimir Cathedral that is being reconstructed took place there. It had been erected at the end of the XIX century at the place of the Grand Kiev Prince Vladimir's christening, but had been badly damaged during the World War II. After the Divine Liturgy a gilt cross was placed on the main dome of the Cathedral.

Three Russian icons have been returned to a remote monastery in the White Sea after spending more than 80 years in Britain in the care of two Anglican vicars. Mr Lambert, now retired and living in Cirencester, decided to return the icons to Solovki after the collapse of communism. He said: "We felt they didn't belong to us. They belonged to Russia." Father Josif, the monastery's abbot, said yesterday: "This is a miracle of sorts. God touched the Lamberts' souls to ensure that they gave the icons back."

His Royal Highness Crown Prince Alexander II represents the symbol of unity and stability wishes to stress that he fully respects the ongoing democratic process. The Crown Prince's will now establish his home in the Palace and work in the best interest of all the people regardless of their ethnicity or religion.

Yugoslav Ambassador Milan St. Protic hosted a Vidovdan National Holiday celebration to commemorate the 612th Anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in Washington, DC.

Bishop Gabriel: "On 10/23 June 2001, I discovered a text on the internet entitled "An Encyclical Epistle" of His Eminence, Metropolitan Vitaly, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. Since I am a permanent member of our Synod, the Deputy Secretary of the Synod and a hierarch who knows our Metropolitan well, I am able to state with full responsibility: The text of the "Encyclical Epistle" was not composed by the Metropolitan. Besides its language and style, the following serves as proof of this..."

A Greek Orthodox priest-monk Fr. Herman was killed by Palestinian gunfire Tuesday night in the West Bank near an Israeli army roadblock on the route leading from occupied east Jerusalem to the Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim, an army spokesman said.

A service in the Kievo-Pechora Lavra Cathedral grouped priests of all the country's dioceses and was followed by a 15,000-strong religious procession that reached the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) to ask the deputies to prevent the pontiff's visit.

A political representative of the so-called National Liberation Army (NLA), who lives in Switzerland stated to the Australian state radio on May 29, that armed Albanians will take action in northwestern Greece!

"Representatives of KFOR introduced this ban with the explanation that Orthodox church bells irritate the Albanians," says Father Velimir. "The last time the bells were heard was on Easter Sunday, April 15 of this year." Meanwhile, every day, five times a day, the song of the muezzins from the minarets of three mosques in the southern, Albanian part of the town can be heard.

The Congress opened on 13th May with the Patriarchal service in the Christ the Saviour Cathedral. There were about ten thousand young people at the service. With the blessing of His Holiness the Patriarch the great treasure of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Fyodorovskaya icon of the Mother of God was brought to the service from Kostroma. This icon is regarded by Orthodox people as the patroness of the family, the children and the young people. It was in front of this very icon that in 1613 nun Marpha entrusted to the Mother of God her 16 year old son Mikhail Romanov, who was taking the path of serving his Fatherland

An Orthodox priest was stabbed to death in his church in Russia's southern Caucasus region of Kabardino-Balkaria.

The prayer for the Russians, Ukrainians and Belourussians who died from radiation was held before the Pochayev icon of the Mother of God, which had been brought to Moscow from an ancient monastery in the Ukraine.

Monks at the all-male community of Mount Athos, one of the most revered places in Orthodoxy, will stage an all-night vigil tonight to pray against the Pope's visit to Greece.

Today his Holiness Patriarch Alexy has reproached the Ukrainian government for the preparation of the splendid reception of the Pope while the rights of the Orthodox believers are denied. He stated at the annual meeting of the International Fund of the Orthodox Peoples that "there is no parity, no equality of religions in the Ukraine, and the situation is unlikely to change".

The theological commission plans to decide whether the most controversial of the statements and views of Fr Georgi Kochetkov are his private theological opinions (theologumena) or can be classified as false teaching (heresy).

Greek Orthodox clerics voted overwhelmingly yesterday to boycott the Pope when he visits the country in May this year. Their opposition to the Roman Catholic Church stems from centuries of division as a result of the Roman schism. The Orthodox Church also resents the Vatican's expansion into former Soviet states which fall under the canonical territory of the Russian Orthodox Church.

"The schism between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad will be in time resolved", said Patriarch Alexy of Moscow and All Rus in his conversation with the journalists in Berne, Switzerland on February 14, 2001.

The message of His Beatitude Metropolitan of Kiev and all Ukraine Vladimir (Sabodan) to Pope John Paul II stresses that "Ukraine is an organic part of the Orthodox East. Most of the Ukrainian Orthodox believers are the flock of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. In this connection the fact that the visit of Your Holiness to our country is being planned and prepared without official notification of our Church and without any invitation from its side causes perplexity".

"There is the impression that this religious movement needs to attract attention aiming at getting new finances and new followers", -says Father Antony. In the opinion of the representative of the Moscow Patriarchate, there is a necessity of the wide social and scientific discussion of the question of therapeutic cloning.

As it is stressed in the Statement, "the great majority of Orthodox believers of the Ukraine not only do not want to separate from the Moscow Patriarchate, but even declare against autonomy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The orthodox citizens of Ukraine state that on most of the territory of the Ukraine, schismatic groupings exist only due to the support of the state and certain political forces. This statement was made in connection with the upcoming visit of the Patriarch of Constantinople to the Ukraine.

On 22nd December at the Partriarchal church of Sts. Constantine and Helena the funeral service of His Beatitude Patriarch Diodoros of Holy City Jerusalem and All Palestine was held. After that the funeral procession went to Viri Galilei, where the Primate of the Jerusalem Church has been buried. The Russian Orthodox Church was represented by Metropolitan of Krutitsy and Kolomna Juvenaly, who at one time attended the enthronement of Patriarch Diodoros.

A number of Orthodox centers fighting drug-addiction have been founded during the ten years since the Church was allowed to take part in open public service. Together with physicians, lawyers, law enforcement officers, leaders of the mass media, legislators and every one concerned the participants in the conference have elaborated the programme of preventive measures and treatment of drug-addiction, fighting it as a social and moral evil.

On November 22 a ceremonial meeting was held at the Kiev Palace of Culture and Art, in which the leading Church and political figures took part. Metropolitan of Kiev and all Ukraine Vladimir (Sabodan) is one of the most authoritative Archbishops of the Russian Orthodox Church and at present he embodies and personifies the unity of its canonical territory. His Holiness Patriarch Alexy has awarded Metropolitan Vladimir the Order of St. Andrew the First-called.

Having concluded union with schismatics, whose leader Filaret Denisenko, the Head of the so called Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate, was committed to anathema by the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Bartholomew flouts not only canon laws, but also even elementary diplomatic etiquette and arguments of common sense.

There is direct evidence of totalitarian tendencies in this sphere. The most dangerous of them is the attempt of some high-ranked representatives of the State power to force the union with quasi-Orthodox schismatic groupings - Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and "Kiev Patriarchate" - upon the many-million canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, which in our opinion is a policy aiming at the destruction of the Orthodox Church as such. Attempts to provoke the Constantinople Patriarchate to interfere into ruling the canonical territory of the Russian Orthodox Church, Ukraine, is also the example of the unprecedented interference in purely Church matters.

The carrying of the new Statutes of the Russian Orthodox Church has become one of the main events at the Jubilee Bishops' Council. The New Statutes originally was approved at the meeting of the Holy Synod on 11 August 2000, and on August 16th - validated by the Bishops' Council. The most important changes in this document on the administrative control of the Russian Church are: the introduction of the Church Court (diocesan, the All-Church and the Court of Archbishops' Council); repeal of the compulsory convocation of the Local Council every five years; definition of the sphere of industrial and undertaking activity of the Church and some other clauses.