Weekly News

Russia and Ukraine agreed to a 32-hour Easter ceasefire (11–12 April), the second in consecutive years. Jerusalem’s Old City holy sites reopened on 9 April after a six-week wartime closure, but the Holy Fire ceremony (11 April) proceeds under restrictions. Bulgaria declined for a second year to send a delegation; Romania and Greece secured special flights for the flame.
In Armenia, Pashinyan’s party formally included the removal of Catholicos Garegin II in its election platform. The Georgian patriarchal election remains unresolved, with the Synod leaving key eligibility criteria open ahead of the 24 April triprosopon selection.
Patriarch Bartholomew hosted Zelenskyy at the Phanar (4 April), visited the Neve Şalom Synagogue and the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople. Patriarch Kirill praised Russia’s National Guard and dedicated a military church in Moscow. Syrian Christians observed a muted Easter, confined to indoor services after the Al-Suqaylabiyah attack. Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia received UK Special Envoy Karen Pierce in Belgrade.

Holy Week 2026 unfolds under the shadow of the US-Israel-Iran war. In Jerusalem, Israeli police barred Latin Patriarch Pizzaballa from the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday — the first such ban in centuries — before international pressure from Macron, Meloni, and Huckabee secured a limited-format agreement. The Holy Fire ceremony on 11 April may admit only 50 people behind closed doors, and Greek authorities are exploring an alternative transfer route via Egypt. In Tehran, a 1 April US-Israeli strike damaged St Nicholas Cathedral of the Moscow Patriarchate. In Syria, sectarian violence struck the Christian town of Al-Suqaylabiyah on the eve of Holy Week; the country’s Orthodox and Catholic patriarchs jointly condemned the attack and restricted Easter celebrations to prayer inside churches across Syria.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew visited Paris, where he was admitted to the French Academy of Moral and Political Sciences — in the seat of Pope Benedict XVI — and met President Macron, PM Lecornu, and UNESCO Director-General Le-Anany. In Georgia, the Holy Synod advanced preparations for the patriarchal election set for 24 April, while Russia’s SVR accused Constantinople of interference — a claim the Georgian Church itself rejected. Armenia’s church-state crisis deepened as rallies supported Catholicos Garegin II against criminal prosecution.

This week’s review opens with the funeral of Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia, laid to rest at the historic Sioni Cathedral on 22 March in the presence of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Patriarch Daniel of Bulgaria, and Metropolitan Tikhon of the OCA — a rare gathering of Orthodox primates. The formal succession process is now underway, with Metropolitan Shio Mujiri as frontrunner.
As Holy Week approaches, Orthodox Christians worldwide are watching the Holy Land with growing anxiety. Israeli police have confirmed that no permission will be granted for the annual Holy Light ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Greece’s Foreign Ministry is developing emergency contingency plans.
On the night of 24–25 March, a Russian drone strike damaged the 17th-century Bernardine Church and Monastery in Lviv — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — destroying four stained-glass windows in one of the largest aerial assaults since 2022. Meanwhile at the Phanar, Patriarch Bartholomew celebrated the 1,400th anniversary of the Akathist Hymn, describing it as “a majestic ode to freedom.”
Also this week: the disputed election of a new head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church — Kyiv Patriarchate; a Chatham House analysis documenting alleged Russian Orthodox recruitment networks in Kenya; and a Public Orthodoxy essay on artificial intelligence and Orthodox theology.

A week of mourning across the Orthodox world: Georgia lost its beloved Patriarch Ilia II, who led the Georgian Church for nearly half a century, while Ukraine bade farewell to the controversial Patriarch Filaret of Kyiv, who died at 97 after decades of struggle for ecclesiastical independence from Moscow.
Meanwhile, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem remains closed as the Iran-Israel conflict continues — raising anxious questions about whether Easter services will take place at Christianity’s holiest site. And in Armenia, the confrontation between the government and the Armenian Apostolic Church has drawn a formal rebuke from the World Council of Churches, as clergy face detention and the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin comes under pressure.
Elsewhere: Patriarch Bartholomew attended an iftar dinner with Turkey’s President Erdoğan in Ankara; the Romanian Patriarch received the new U.S. Ambassador in Bucharest; a Chatham House report detailed how the Russian Orthodox Church is recruiting for the war in Ukraine; and an international conference at Holy Cross in Boston honored the late Archbishop Anastasios of Albania, pioneer of Orthodox mission in Africa.
The full review covers Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches across every continent, with sections on ecumenical dialogue, emerging trends, and new academic publications.