On December 6, Patriarch Kirill consecrated the newly restored Church of St. Alexander Nevsky in Krasnoye Selo, St. Petersburg — a parish where his father, Protopriest Mikhail Gundyaev, served during the Soviet era. Metropolitan Barsanuphius and other hierarchs concelebrated. After the Liturgy, the Patriarch presented the parish with a Smolensk icon and awarded contributors to the five-year restoration project, carried out under the patronage of Russia’s Ministry of Culture.

Parishes across several countries celebrated the feast of St. Catherine. In Moscow, the patronal festival at St. Catherine’s Church on Vspolye — the representation church of the Orthodox Church in America — was led by Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, together with hierarchs of the Antiochian and American Orthodox Churches. A newly installed iconostasis was blessed before the service.
Festivities also took place at the ancient Monastery of St. Catherine on Sinai — the first since the election of its new abbot, Archbishop Symeon — amid ongoing negotiations over the legal status of the monastery’s land.
In Yekaterinburg, St. Catherine’s heavenly patronage of the city drew about 5,000 faithful to a procession and prayer service at the historical site of the former Catherine Cathedral.

Jordan hosted the international conference “Aqaba Process — Balkan Interreligious Dialogue,” focused on cooperation among religious communities in a context of regional instability. The Primates of the Jerusalem, Antiochian, and Serbian Orthodox Churches, along with Archbishop Anastasios of Albania, Catholic representatives, and Muslim leaders from the Middle East and Balkans, took part. Participants emphasized the role of religion in peacebuilding and safeguarding Christian presence in the region.
King Abdullah II met with the Serbian, Jerusalem, and Antiochian Patriarchs, calling for renewed stability in the Middle East and the protection of Christian communities.

Catholicos Karekin II issued a statement denouncing what he called fabricated and politically motivated charges against arrested hierarchs of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The recent detention of Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan marked the fourth arrest of a senior cleric amid growing tensions between the Church and the Armenian government.
The Mother See of Etchmiadzin condemned state interference in church life and warned bishops against participating in “anti-canonical services” allegedly held with involvement of security forces.
The conflict has intensified following Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s proposals to change the procedure for electing the Catholicos and his public criticism of the Church. Several clergy and lay supporters have been detained. Armenian diaspora communities held demonstrations, including outside the Armenian embassy in Moscow, calling for an end to government pressure and the release of imprisoned clergy.

Metropolitan Constantine, Patriarchal Exarch of Africa, conducted a pastoral visit to Uganda. In Rubare, he baptized 117 people formerly belonging to two non-canonical communities. He also celebrated the Divine Liturgy in Nkokonjero, baptizing 17 children, blessed the site of a new church, and held meetings with clergy.
During the trip he visited several parishes, blessed a newly drilled water well in the village of Gulu, and laid the foundation stone for a future parish school, highlighting the Exarchate’s social and educational initiatives.

The Philippine–Vietnam Diocese delivered humanitarian aid to victims of Typhoon Kalmaegi in Vietnam and the Philippines. With the blessing of Metropolitan Pavel, parishes distributed hot meals, drinking water, clothing, essential supplies, and organized a blood donation drive. Relief efforts took place in Nha Trang and on Luzon Island, assisting residents of impoverished communities hit hardest by the disaster.