KOREA

Orthodox agape service offered a special prayer for church unity and for unity between South and North Korea

Seoul - A large gathering of Orthodox Christians from different nationalities met at St. Nicholas Cathedral for the midnight Paschal Service. The Paschal hymns, intoned in different ethnic traditional melodies, including Byzantine melodies chanted in Slavonic by Russians, were particularly prayerful and beautiful.

Representatives from Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and Methodist churches, as well as from the National Council of Churches in Korea, were also present, and were invited to deliver the Paschal Greetings of their Church Leaders. Bishop Sotirios presented souvenirs to them as an expression of love in the Risen Lord, and in memory of their presence at the Paschal service, on the unique occasion of the joint celebration of Pascha 2001 for Eastern and Western Christendom.

The service was televised by two main television stations (KBS and MBC), and three Cable networks (Roman Catholic and Protestant channels, and YNT-News network).

Representatives from the other Christian denominations also attended the Vespers of Love, during which the Gospel was read in eight different languages, including in the native languages. All those present were also invited to join the Agape meal.

Bishop Sotirios of Zelon officiated the Service with five Priests and a Deacon, and read aloud to the congregation a prayer from His All Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew I, for Church Unity in the world, and for the unity of South and North Korea. The Paschal Message of His All Holiness to the Orthodox in Korea was delivered by Proto-presbyter Daniel Na Chang-Kyu.

Orthodox Students from Sakha Republic awarded scholarships for art school study in Seoul

Seoul - 9 March 2001, three Sakha Orthodox Students arrived at Kimpo International Airport in Seoul, Korea, on a year scholarship, including tuition fees and full board and lodge, at the Art School in Jeon Joo, originally established by a native Korean Orthodox priest, Oikonomow Stephanos Whoang Jyung Soo.
The scholarship was granted to the three students who had been appointed by His Eminence Archbishop German of Yakutsk and Lensk, Sakha Republic (Russia) with the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan Dionysiow of New Zealand. During their one-year stay in Korea, the students, Paul Nikitchenko, Helen Lytkina and Anastasia Ryzhikova, are learning Korean, following the school curriculum in Korean, alongside specialist classes in violin and ballet. All three students are adjusting well to the new enviroment: they attend the Orthodox Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God in Jeon Joo, and play an active role with the youth of the parish.