Vatican Information Service

VATICAN CITY, (VIS) - The Russian Orthodox church of St. Nicholas in the Italian city of Bari was returned to the custody of the Patriarchate of Moscow during a ceremony held in Bari on March 1, 2009. During the celebration, Cardinal Salvatore De Giorgi, archbishop emeritus of Palermo, Italy, read out a Message from the Holy Father.

"The Russian people", says the Pope in his Message, "have never faltered in their love for this great saint who has always supported them through moments of joy and of difficulty. Evidence of this is also to be found in this Russian Orthodox church of St. Nicholas, built at the beginning of last century to house pilgrims who, often on their way to the Holy Land, stopped at Bari, a meeting point between East and West, to venerate the relics of the saint.

"And how can we not recognise", the Holy Father adds, "that this beautiful church reawakens within us a nostalgia for full unity, and upholds our commitment to work for full union among all Christ's disciples?"

In his Message, Benedict XVI also reiterates his best wishes to Kirill, recently-elected as Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, and calls upon the Holy Spirit to illuminate his ministry.

During the ceremony - which was originally due to have taken place on 6 December 2008, Feast of St. Nicholas of Bari, but was postponed due to the death of Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexis II - Giorgio Napolitano, president of the Italian Republic, consigned the keys of the Orthodox church of St. Nicholas to Dimitry Medvedev, president of the Russian Federation.

European court rules against Turkey in Greek Orthodox church case

The European Court on Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Tuesday that Turkey violated the property rights of a Greek Orthodox Church on the Aegean island of Bozcaada. The Foundation of the Bozcaada Kimisis Teodoku Greek Orthodox Church had complained of the Turkish courts’ refusal to register its property in the land register under its name, relying on Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (protection of property), Article 6 (right to a fair trial), Article 9 (right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion), Article 13 (right to an effective remedy) and Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination).  According to the ruling, Turkey was ordered to pay the foundation 105,000 euros ($132,406) compensation, including the cost of proceedings, for violating Article 1, which refers to the protection of property. The ECHR ruled that Turkey did not violate the other articles in the application

European court fines Turkey in Greek Orthodox case

By Ayla Jean Yackley

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The European Court of Human Rights Tuesday ruled Turkey had violated the property rights of a Greek Orthodox foundation by seizing its land and ordered the government to pay damages.

Judges said Turkey had breached the European Convention on Human Rights by barring the foundation from registering its title to a church and surrounding lands on the Aegean island of Bozcaada, a statement from the court said.

It is the latest ruling by the Strasbourg-based court against Turkey for violating the property rights of its ethnic Greek minority. The European Union, which Turkey seeks to join, has called on the government to return seized properties to minorities and expand their religious and cultural freedoms.

The European Court of Human Rights fined Turkey 105,000 euros ($131,880) for damages and expenses after it ruled authorities had illegally prevented the rightful owner of the Kimisis Teodoku Greek Orthodox Church from registering its property, the statement said.

The foundation was denied the right to register its title to three pieces of land and a building on the island after the state land registry was reorganized in 1991, the statement said.

Turkish courts had ruled against the foundation because it had missed an initial deadline to re-register its deed and had ordered the property be turned over to the state Treasury.

The Istanbul-based Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, spiritual leader of 250 million faithful worldwide, has filed more than two dozen cases with the European Court of Human Rights to recover some of the thousands of properties it says it has lost.

In September, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in a separate case that Turkey had violated the property rights of the patriarchate by seizing a 100-year-old orphanage on an island off of Istanbul and ordered its return.

It has also ruled that Turkey illegally took control of other properties in Istanbul owned by Greek foundations.

About 25 mostly elderly ethnic Greeks live on Bozcaada, part of a community of 2,500 Greeks in Turkey, which is 99 percent Muslim. Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, is also home to about 15,000 Jews and 60,000 Armenians.

Most Russians to ignore Lent
 
MOSCOW - THOUGH many Russians would claim they are Orthodox Christian, an overwhelming majority of a recent poll's respondents said they would not change their culinary habits to observe Lent, the Levada independent opinion centre wrote.
Some 70 per cent of the poll's 1,600 respondents said they intended to stick to their usual meals, with only three per cent saying they would obey the strict diet Orthodox Christians must keep for seven weeks, the centre reported Monday.

The poll was held in late February in 128 cities and towns in 46 of Russia's sprawling 79 regions.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Russian Orthodox Church has steadily gained influence in social and political life, while the number of Russians describing themselves as Orthodox believers has risen sharply.

However, polls showed that many of those claiming to be believers were ignorant of crucial Christian teachings and church rules, some even uncertain of God's existence. -- AFP