Eparchy of Parma

SUGAR CREEK, Mo. — Benedictine Father Thomas Bailey drove about 80,000 miles over the past eight years in service to the Eparchy of Parma as the sacramental minister to St. Luke Byzantine Catholic Parish. Each round trip to the Sugar Creek community, where he celebrated Divine Liturgy on Sundays and holy days, was 180 miles. READ MORE.

BRUNSWICK, Ohio — Anna Tombazzi, parishioner of St. Emilian Byzantine Catholic Parish, was among the University of Akron’s graduates last month to receive the Top Ten Senior Award 2018. The award is among the university’s highest honors; each recipient’s name is engraved on a plaque in the student union building. The award is conferred “in recognition of exceptional contributions in scholarship, involvement and leadership throughout the undergraduate career.” Award recipients must also receive nominations from faculty and students. READ MORE.

ROME — Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople urged Christians to beware indifference and to address the “crisis of solidarity.” “Even in so-called ‘Christian’ societies there is a new martyrdom, the result of a lack of amazement, which is the martyrdom of the indifference of a post-religious society, of spiritual aridity,” he said in his reflection during a prayer service he led at the Basilica of the Twelve Holy Apostles in Rome May 23. READ MORE.

CLEVELAND — St. Mary Byzantine Catholic School’s 13 graduating students were honored with a Divine Liturgy and reception June 3. “As an educator, it has been most gratifying watching the development of the 13 graduates of the Class of 2018,” said the principal, Rita Basalla. “This class has grown to be persons who demonstrate the respectful and responsible behaviors that we all pray to see in graduates of our Catholic school.” READ MORE.

PITTSBURGH — Archbishop Alexander Golitzin of the Orthodox Church of America (OCA) gave the 18th annual Sts. Cyril and Methodius Lecture of the Byzantine Catholic Seminary May 16. Archbishop Golitzin heads two OCA dioceses — the Diocese of the South, based in Dallas, and the Bulgarian Diocese. The patristics scholar and former professor spoke on the theme, “The Place of the Presence of God: Aphrahat of Persia’s Portrait of the Christian Holy Man.” READ MORE.