On January 2, 2015, the patronal feast was celebrated by the community of the destroyed Church of St. John of Kronstadt in Kirovskoye – a town on which shells had been fired every day until the last truce was concluded.
As Christians around the world celebrate Christmas, the holiday season is also observed in Iran, a predominantly Muslim nation where Christians make up some 1% of the country’s approximate population of 77.5 million.
The patriarch emphasized that "all not devices, all conflicts which cause sufferings, - from our inability to live under the Bozhiy law".
The Moscow Patriarchate has called for an end to violence against the Orthodox Christians in Ukraine.
Clergy and faithful from parishes across the Midwest gathered at historic Holy Trinity Cathedral here on the morning of Saturday, December 27, 2014 for the celebration of the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, during which Bishop-Elect Paul [Gassios] was consecrated to the Episcopacy as Bishop of Chicago and the Midwest.