Orthodoxy Cognate PAGE Society Activity Report – 2014

OCP News Service – OCP Secretariat – 25/12/14

Dear Beloved Readers, well-wishers and faithful

Nativity and New year Greetings from OCP Secretariat.

It with great pleasure we present to you the 2014 activity report of OCP Society. The past year has been great for our organization with lots of vibrant activities.

Meetings and Visits
During the first week of February 2014, Orthodoxy Cognate PAGE Society Delegation received the representatives of various Oriental Orthodox Churches (Coptic, Armenian, Indian and Ethiopian) at Samanvaya Ecumenical Centre of the Indian Malankara Orthodox Church. OCP delegates urged for increasing the phase of Oriental Orthodox Unity and creating a permanent secretariat for administration needs.

In the month of May 2014 at the Inter-parliamentary Assembly Conference in Thessaloniki, George Alexander (OCP Secretary) met with a number Orthodox Prelates and delegation from different part of Europe. He met with Coptic Bishop Anba Paulose of Athens and All Greece, also with Serbian Orthodox Metropolitan Porfirije of Zagreb-Ljubljana, Orthodox Journalists from Belarus, Poland, Finland and Moldova and several other places. George also met with several parliamentarians from Middle East and Europe.

During the month of October 2014, special envoy of the Secretariat of the Orthodoxy Cognate PAGE Society, Monu John Phillip visited prelates of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Cairo and affiliated areas. He began his tour with a visit to the George the Martyr Church in Kafr el Dawar. He met with Bishop Himanot Anba Bishoy and with Bishop Abune Hananiya. His special mission was to introduce the pan-orthodox works of OCP Society. He also discussed various issues concerning the unity of Oriental Orthodox Churches. Monu presented the prelates with the OCP Icon of St. Gregorious of Parumala – the first canonized Indian saint.

OCP delegation also met with Syriac Orthodox and Assyrian Church prelates in Kerala during the month of November 2014. The delegation met with Mor Kuriakose Severios – Chief Metropolitan Archbishop of the Kananaya Archdiocese & Metropolitan Mor Themothios of Kottayam of the Syriac Orthodox Church in India (Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All East). They also met with Mor Aphrem – Metropolitan of India of the Assyrian Church of the East. All Prelates were presented with the OCP Order of Three Saints.

The OCP delegation also visited Pan-Orthodox organizations like Carmel Apologetics Trust and Team Project Prayer Rope.

OCP Media Network
The Media Network and OCP News Service continue to attract large number of reader’s world. OCP Media network is the only news portal in the world to broadcast events and news from Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox News along with important ecumenical events. A large number of exclusive events were covered by OCP News Service in the year 2014.

Institutes and Projects
In the month of June 2014, the OCP delegation participated in the all UAE National Ethiopian Youth conference. OCP Secretary addressed the conference. Addis Ababa Conference portal featuring the details of the historic Oriental Orthodox meeting was inaugurated by the Ethiopian Orthodox Prelates.

Field Activities
Ajesh T Phillip – (OCP Delegate of the Indian Sub-Continent and Chief Project Coordinator MARP).rediscovered the lost Missions of Metropolitan Alvares Julius.

The Communities are The Community of St Gregorious – Didigul & St James Independent Catholic Church – Sempatty which were part of the Western- Latin Rite Church of Metropolitan Alvares Julius – Indian Orthodox Malankara Church. The missions were handover to the Chennai diocese of the Indian Orthodox Church and Orthodox Divine Liturgy was celebrated after a gap of 59 years in Dindigul.

OCP Foundation
In the month of September the OCP Foundation honored Dr Christine Chaillot, the world famous pan-orthodox activity. The even took place at Kottayam in Kerala were Christine was presented with the Defender of Orthodoxy Award for he outstanding contributions toward Pan-Orthodox unity dialogue. The OCP Foundation has been expanded by adding a number of orders and award aimed at honoring personalities, churches and organizations for their contributions and hard work.

Research, Lecture, Publications & Academic Activities
During the month of May 2014, OCP Secretary on the invitation of Inter-parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (I.A.O.) to speak at the Mass Media Conference which was held in Thessaloniki Greece. Secretary George Alexander spoke on the subject ‘Seeking United Orthodox Christian Witness through Mass Media’. He urged for conciliar unity between Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches and called for creating international Orthodox Mass Media Centre. He was the only speaker at the conference from the ancient Oriental Orthodox communion as well as of the Indian origin representing India where he officially represented OCP Society.

A presentation and lecture on the Pan-Orthodox activities of Orthodoxy Cognate PAGE Society was held at the Westphalian Wilhelm University Münster (W.W.U.) on 19th September 2014. The Conference was part of the inter-university study programme on “Christianity in Asia” European Summer School – Intensive Study Programme (I.S.P.) The lecture was made by Ms Maria Sidiropoulou (M. Th. Student – Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (A.U.T.H.) – Greece. The lecture was part of the conference titled “Orthodoxy presence in Asia: Churches and NGO’s (Korea, Hong-Kong, Singapore, Japan, and India)” hosted by the Institute for Missiology and the Study of Theologies beyond Europe. The talk was made during the Student Research Presentation session. The Thematic Unit was ‘Cross-Cultural Flows and Pan-Asian Movements of Asian Christianity’.

In the month of November 2014, OCP Publications released a new pan-orthodox publication titled ‘Collected Writings on Orthodox Christianity – Various Aspects of Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches’. The book consists of thirty independent chapters by various authors. Majority of them have been written by George Alexander – Secretary of OCP Society. Rest of them has been contributed by different authors. The book has been penned fully in pan-orthodox nature comprising various aspects of Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches. The inclusion of topics from both families of Orthodox Churches makes the work more unique. The Copies of the Book has been sent to Libraries of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Halki Theological Academy and Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

Large number of articles and exclusive news items were published through OCP Media Network. OCP delegates continue to provide consultations in the field of church management, orthodox mission, orthodox journalism, and several other related areas of work.

OCP Hierarchy
Accounts and balance sheet for the past two years have been filed with the District Society Registrar’s office. Departments have been revamped along with the organizational structure. OCP Society now consist of the General Body, Executive Council, OCP Foundation, Delegate Council, Associates, Secretariat and Departments. The OCP Executive Council expanded by including delegates from Greek, Russian and Indian Orthodox Churches.

The Dept. of Charity and Social Welfare
Charity and Social Welfare Activities continue to flourish under the leadership of Subin Varghese (Vice-Chairman). Help has been provided to health and educational activities in South India regions. The total amount spend for charity is rupees 25000 for the year 2014.

The year 2014 was fruitful and a lot of contributions were made by the Society in the field of inter-orthodox union and pan-orthodoxy. We hope to continue our hard work and commitment towards pan-orthodox conciliar unity in the upcoming years.

We thank you all for your kind support, prayers and care. We hope to continue the same in our future endeavors as well.

In Christ
The OCP Secretariat

George Alexander
(Secretary and Spokesperson)

Kisha D Dorado
(Director- Dept of Church Research & Studies)

Prakash Vargehse
(Delegate of UAE, Gulf and Levant Region)

Vipin Varghese
(Director- Dept. of Public Relations)

Abraham P Koshy
(Director – Dept of Finance)

Varghese John
(Director- Dept of Publications)

Monu John Phillip
(Special Envoy – OCP Secretariat)

Source:
OCP News Service