Mount Merapi Volcano Eruption Refugee Appeal
Friends of Indonesia – Australia
With the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion
Friends of Indonesia-Australia was established in July 2010 to aid the priests and parishes of the Indonesian Orthodox Church (Gereja Orthodox Indonesia – GOI) who make up the Indonesian Deanery of ROCOR’s Australian and New Zealand Diocese.
Mount Merapi Volcano Eruption Refugee Appeal
The active volcano Mount Merapi on the Indonesian island of Java erupted on the 25th of October. It continues to spew hot gases and ash as far as 5,000 meters into the atmosphere, wreaking havoc on surrounding villages and farms, and disrupting air travel. 194 people have been killed, and at least 350,000 fled their homes, and cannot yet return because of the danger of further eruptions.
November 21, the feast day of the Synaxis of Archangel Michael and the Other Bodiless Powers, marks the 25th anniversary of the repose of Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesensky) of blessed memory, the third Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, one of my predecessors on the Cathedra of the Eastern American Diocese, who consecrated my unworthiness to the episcopate in 1984. On this day, I will celebrate Divine Liturgy in Archangel Michael Church in Paterson, NJ, after which a memorial trapeza will be held in the parish hall, where a lecture on the biography of the esteemed Vladyka Philaret will be read with a presentation of rare photographs. That same day His Grace Bishop Jerome of Manhattan, Vicar of the Eastern American Diocese, will perform a memorial service at his crypt in Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY.


The members of the First Episcopal Assembly of all canonical Orthodox Bishops of Oceania welcomed the opportunity to meet in Sydney from 16-18 October, 2010 under the chairmanship ex officio of His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos of Australia.

