ID :
72909
Thu, 07/30/2009 - 14:42
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/72909
The shortlink copeid
Moscow Patriarch to visit Holy Mount monastery in East Ukraine
DONETSK, July 30 (Itar-Tass) - Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia
Kirill /Cyril/, who is visiting Ukraine now, on Thursday arrives in one of
the most picturesque places in the country- the town of Svyatogorsk that
is home to the highly popular Holy Assumption monastery.
He will conduct a special festive liturgy there.
The Assumption monastery on the Holy Mount has been closed by the
authorities on two occasions in the past.
First, it was Empress Catherine II who disbanded it in the 18th
century as part of her campaign aimed to slash the number of Church
institutions.
The Empress bestowed the lands surrounding the monastery on Prince
Grigory Potyomkin, one of her lovers and favorites.
However, it was Potyomkin's successors who initiated the restoration
of the Holy Mount monastery half a century later.
The petition for this was endorsed by Catherine II's grandson, Emperor
Nicholas I.
The project was translated into life thanks to the efforts of
Archimandrite Arsenius, who became the first abbot of the monastery "upon
reinstitution".
It is noteworthy and Arsenius's relics, hidden by the monks in the
1923, the year of the second closure, were found literally a few days ago
during excavation works that are held there as part of generation
restoration.
The town of Svyatogorsk expects the arrival of crowds of pilgrims
right after dawn, as thousands of believers began to stream there from all
parts of the Donetsk region where the monastery is located and the
neighboring Lugansk and Kharkov regions.
These three regions used to be Russia's southern frontier for
centuries and the Holy Mount monastery was one of the major defense
outputs in this area.
Today it organically fits into the landscape of chalky hills overgrown
with pines of a species that one comes across nowhere but here.
The chalky hills not only protected monks from enemies. The also
provided them with housing, as they would cut out cells in sedimentations
of chalk and chanted prayers in the unique chalk church.
The monastery resurrected the second time in 1992 and received the
official status of the laura - a monastery or convent of the highest rank
in Eastern Orthodoxy - in 2004.
It is the fifth laura on the canonical territory of the Russian
Orthodox Church.
.Final results of Moldova's election to be announced by 07:00 GMT.
CHISINAU, July 30 (Itar-Tass) - Final results of Wednesday's early
parliamentary election in Moldova will be made public at 10:00 hours local
time or 07:00 hours GMT, officials at the Central Electoral Commission
told reporters, telling them they could be free until the official
announcement.
After the processing of 76% ballots, the Communist Party remained in
the lead with 45.9% votes.
It is followed by the Liberal Democratic Party /16.1% votes or 16
seats in parliament/, the Liberal Party /13.2% votes or 14 seats/, the
Democratic Party /12.9% votes or 13 seats/, and Our Moldova Alliance /7.6%
votes or eight seats/.
Another three opposition parities failed to get over the 5%
qualification barrier.
Under this situation, the Communists are going to get 49 seats in the
101-seat national parliament. This denies them an opportunity to run the
country on their own.
The problem for the four opposition parties is that this breakdown of
seats will make it possible for them to form the parliament's leadership
only. Since election of the President - who is elected by parliament under
the national Constitution - requires 61 votes, the oppositionists, too,
will have to strike an agreement with the Communists.
More than that, the opposition will not be able to vote in a new
cabinet without the Communist Party, since the Constitution puts
appointment of a prime minister into the realm of the President's powers.
"It's too early to make any forecasts yet because the situation
remains unclear and everything will depend now on the results of voting at
the polling stations where the ballots are still processed, and so the
scale may easily turn one way or another," CEC Secretary Iurie Ciocan said.
In the meantime, opposition parties have begun talks on setting up the
parliamentary coalition, Vlad Filat, the leader of the Liberal Democratic
Party said.
"We don't have the official results yet but we have the unofficial
ones suggesting that the Communists will get less than 50 mandates in
parliament and this means the other four parties will have to set up the
ruling coalition," he said.
Filat indicated he had had meetings with leaders of other parties
before dawn to discuss the coalition issue.
-0-kle
Kirill /Cyril/, who is visiting Ukraine now, on Thursday arrives in one of
the most picturesque places in the country- the town of Svyatogorsk that
is home to the highly popular Holy Assumption monastery.
He will conduct a special festive liturgy there.
The Assumption monastery on the Holy Mount has been closed by the
authorities on two occasions in the past.
First, it was Empress Catherine II who disbanded it in the 18th
century as part of her campaign aimed to slash the number of Church
institutions.
The Empress bestowed the lands surrounding the monastery on Prince
Grigory Potyomkin, one of her lovers and favorites.
However, it was Potyomkin's successors who initiated the restoration
of the Holy Mount monastery half a century later.
The petition for this was endorsed by Catherine II's grandson, Emperor
Nicholas I.
The project was translated into life thanks to the efforts of
Archimandrite Arsenius, who became the first abbot of the monastery "upon
reinstitution".
It is noteworthy and Arsenius's relics, hidden by the monks in the
1923, the year of the second closure, were found literally a few days ago
during excavation works that are held there as part of generation
restoration.
The town of Svyatogorsk expects the arrival of crowds of pilgrims
right after dawn, as thousands of believers began to stream there from all
parts of the Donetsk region where the monastery is located and the
neighboring Lugansk and Kharkov regions.
These three regions used to be Russia's southern frontier for
centuries and the Holy Mount monastery was one of the major defense
outputs in this area.
Today it organically fits into the landscape of chalky hills overgrown
with pines of a species that one comes across nowhere but here.
The chalky hills not only protected monks from enemies. The also
provided them with housing, as they would cut out cells in sedimentations
of chalk and chanted prayers in the unique chalk church.
The monastery resurrected the second time in 1992 and received the
official status of the laura - a monastery or convent of the highest rank
in Eastern Orthodoxy - in 2004.
It is the fifth laura on the canonical territory of the Russian
Orthodox Church.
.Final results of Moldova's election to be announced by 07:00 GMT.
CHISINAU, July 30 (Itar-Tass) - Final results of Wednesday's early
parliamentary election in Moldova will be made public at 10:00 hours local
time or 07:00 hours GMT, officials at the Central Electoral Commission
told reporters, telling them they could be free until the official
announcement.
After the processing of 76% ballots, the Communist Party remained in
the lead with 45.9% votes.
It is followed by the Liberal Democratic Party /16.1% votes or 16
seats in parliament/, the Liberal Party /13.2% votes or 14 seats/, the
Democratic Party /12.9% votes or 13 seats/, and Our Moldova Alliance /7.6%
votes or eight seats/.
Another three opposition parities failed to get over the 5%
qualification barrier.
Under this situation, the Communists are going to get 49 seats in the
101-seat national parliament. This denies them an opportunity to run the
country on their own.
The problem for the four opposition parties is that this breakdown of
seats will make it possible for them to form the parliament's leadership
only. Since election of the President - who is elected by parliament under
the national Constitution - requires 61 votes, the oppositionists, too,
will have to strike an agreement with the Communists.
More than that, the opposition will not be able to vote in a new
cabinet without the Communist Party, since the Constitution puts
appointment of a prime minister into the realm of the President's powers.
"It's too early to make any forecasts yet because the situation
remains unclear and everything will depend now on the results of voting at
the polling stations where the ballots are still processed, and so the
scale may easily turn one way or another," CEC Secretary Iurie Ciocan said.
In the meantime, opposition parties have begun talks on setting up the
parliamentary coalition, Vlad Filat, the leader of the Liberal Democratic
Party said.
"We don't have the official results yet but we have the unofficial
ones suggesting that the Communists will get less than 50 mandates in
parliament and this means the other four parties will have to set up the
ruling coalition," he said.
Filat indicated he had had meetings with leaders of other parties
before dawn to discuss the coalition issue.
-0-kle
