DIOCESE OF BERLIN AND GERMANY: December 28, 2006
News from the Diocese of Berlin and Germany

We offer our readers the program of the Orthodox Conference being held now in Munich:

Tuesday, December 26, 2006:

3:00 pm: Moleben and opening of the Conference by His Eminence Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany

3:30 pm: Protopriest Nikolai Artemoff: "The Dogma of Redemption: The Orthodox Teaching of Salvation in the Work of Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky)"

4:30 pm: Questions, discussion.

5:00 pm: Vespers and Matins (confessions heard)

7:30 pm: Dinner

Wednesday, December 27, 2006:

7:30 am: Hours, Divine Liturgy

9:45 am: Breakfast

10:15 am: Bishop Feofan of Stavropol and Vladikavkaz (ROC/MP): "Christianity and Islam"

11:45 am: Questions, discussion

1:00 pm: Lunch

3:00 pm: Nun Amvrossia (Gethsemane Convent): "The Church and Monasticism"

4:30 pm: Tea

5:00 pm: Vespers, Matins with polyeleos (confessions heard)

Thursday, December 28, 2006:

7:30 am: Hours, Divine Liturgy

9:45 am: Breakfast

10:15 am: Archimandrite Roman (Stavropol): "The Glorification of the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia in the Diocese of Stavropol and Vladikavkaz"

11:45 am: Questions, discussion

12:30 pm: Concluding discussion of all Conference topics

Lunch, moleben of thanksgiving

APPEAL OF PRIEST ANDRE SIKOJEV

Esteemed Fathers and Brothers, Christ is among us!

In Beslan (near Vladikavkaz), more than 360 children and their families became victims of Satanic murderers. This terrorist act was an assault on the only Orthodox people of the Caucasus.

Ossetians in the 20 th century endured persecution of the Church, to which they remained true, as they also retained their devotion to Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II. Almost all the priests of Ossetia were killed, and in Vladikavkaz alone, the Bolsheviks destroyed 32 of the 34 churches.

In the early 1990's, the Ossetians were forced to defend their villages and Orthodox holy sites from Islamic aggression. Under the direction of Bishop Feofan of Stavropol and Vladikavkaz, the rebirth of church life gained strength (see Vestnik Germanskoj eparkhii [Bulletin of the German Diocese], No 4/2006). After the tragedy at Beslan, the Diocese of Berlin and Germany and the Diocese of Australia and New Zealand of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, with the blessing of His Eminence Archbishop Mark and His Eminence Archbishop Hilarion, have begun to heal the spiritual wounds of the people of Russia's southern border together with the Russian Orthodox Church in Ossetia.

These efforts have enjoyed broad support and have resulted in a functioning structure. Joint construction of a children's therapeutic center for the victims of the Beslan terrorist act is being completed, as is the first convent in Ossetia, to which a portion of the relics of Holy Marytrs Elizaveta Feodorovna and Nun Varvara have been donated.

Together with Bishop Feofan, Archbishop Mark erected a cross on the site of a future altar of a memorial church, where the school gymnasium once stood (the very site where the communists had earlier destroyed the Church of St George the Great Martyrs).

A great deal more needs to be done. The new monastery church must be completed, auxiliary constructions have to be built in the convent, and the therapeutics center must be equipped to accommodate the needs of the children.

With the blessing of our First Hierarch, His Eminence Metropolitan Laurus, and of the Synod of Bishops, which convened in early December, we appeal to you to help provide material support for the continuation of our joint work in Ossetia.

With love in Christ and profound gratitude,

Priest Andre Sikojev

Donations may be made to:

RUSSISCHE ORTHODOXE KIRCHE
HYPO VEREINSBANK MÜNCHEN
IBAN: DE81700202706060580314
Swift (BIC): HYVEDEMMXXX
Keyword: «BESLAN»