8,921
edits
Changes
→Post-Communist era (1991-Present): 1998
*1996 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America reorganized by the [[Church of Constantinople|Ecumenical Patriarchate]], dividing the administration of the two continents into four parts; [[Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia|Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia]] (Ecumenical Patriarchate) founded.
*1997 Visit by Patr. [[Bartholomew I (Archontonis) of Constantinople]] to US; establishment of dioceses of Bukoba, Madagascar, Ghana and Nigeria, by Synodical decree of the [[Church of Alexandria|Patriarchate of Alexandria]]; Russian [[w:Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations|Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations]] declares [[Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christianity]] as Russia's predominant religion; [[Friends of Orthodoxy on Iona]] founded; first pan-African Inter-Orthodox Consultation is held in Kampala, Uganda in December, with representatives from the Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches present.
*1998 [[Church of Constantinople]], not recognizing Russia's right to issue a [[tomos]] of [[autocephaly]] in 1951, issues its own tomos for the [[Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia]]; [http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/thessaloniki_roc.aspx Thessaloniki Summit] held to discuss Orthodox participation in [[w:World Council of Churches|WCC]]; uncovering of the relics of [[Ambrose of Optina|Ambrose]] of [[Optina Monastery|Optina]]; death of missionary Fr. [[Chariton Pneumatikakis]], in Kananga, having served the Orthodox mission there for 25 years; Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission issues statement "Salvation: Grace, Justification and Synergy"; the [[w:Archbishop of Canterbury|Archbishop of Canterbury]] and [[w:Old_Catholic_Church_of_the_Netherlands#Old_Catholic_Archbishops_of_Utrecht|Archbishop of Utrecht]] established the Anglican-Old Catholic International Coordinating Council in order to stimulate contact and cooperation in the spirit of the Bonn Agreement of 1931; [[w:International Religious Freedom Act of 1998|International Religious Freedom Act]] is passed in the US to promote religious freedom as a foreign policy of the United States, and to advocate on the behalf of the individuals viewed as persecuted in foreign countries on the account of religion.
*1999 Numerous Serbian Orthodox sites in Kosovo and Metohia destroyed and desecrated during NATO peacekeeping presence; Lutheran World Federation and [[Roman Catholic Church]] sign [[w:Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification |Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification]], one of the most significant agreements since the Reformation, also adopted unanimously later in 2006 by members of the World Methodist Council.
*2000 Orthodox-Roman Catholic Joint Theological Commission meets in Baltimore, discusses text on "The Ecclesiological and Canonical Implications of Uniatism," but is suspended; Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission issues statement "Word and Sacraments (Mysteria) in the Life of the Church"; [[Church of Russia|Russian Orthodox Church]] announces the [[glorification|canonization]] of Tsar [[Nicholas II of Russia]] and his immediate family; government of Greece orders removal of religious affiliation from state identity cards; the restored [[Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (Moscow)|Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow]] was consecrated on [[August 19]]; Church of Russia glorified Hieromartyr [[Andronik of Perm|Andronik, Archbishop of Perm]], one of Russia's New Martyrs and Confessors (+1918). Church of Russia canonizes Hieromartyr Bp. [[Seraphim (Zvezdinsky) of Dimitrov]] (+1937).
