Ecumenical Patriarch Leads Halki Summit III Eco-Conference - scholars from several Orthodox Churches attend

Hia All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is hosting the third Halki Summit,which is being held at an international hotel in Istanbul,Turkey.The series of environmental conferences is named for the Halki School of Theology on Heybeliada Island,Turkey,where Halki I was held.*
Halki Summit III is an inter-Orthodox working conference.Prominent environmental theologians from Orthodox,Roman Catholic and Protestant institutions will discuss ways that ecological awareness can be fostered and advanced in Orthodox institutions around the world by means of courses and other programs related to creation care,the Ecumenical Patriarchate said in a press release.*
Halki Summit III runs from 31 May to 4 June 2019.Its theme is "Theological Formation and Ecological Awareness."Around 50 delegates from 40 institutions will participate.The keynote speakers are His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and His Eminence Elder Metropolitan John of Pergamon (Ecumenical Patriarchate).Among the other participants are:
His Grace Bishop Ignatije of Branicevo (Serbian Orthodox Church);Dr.Eleni Antonopoulou,Aristotle University of Thessaloniki;Dr.Celia Deane-Drummond,University of Notre Dame;Very Reverend Andriy Dudchenko,Kiyiv Orthodox Theological Academy (Orthodox Church of Ukraine);Dr.Michael Evans,Southern New Hampshire University;Nathan Hoppe,Resurrection of Christ Theological Academy (Orthodox Church of Albania);Reverend Deacon Irakli Jinjolava,Tbilisi Theological Academy (Orthodox Church of Georgia);Bogdan Nacsiu,Orthodox Archdiocese of Timisoara (Orthodox Church of Romania);Nikolaos Papachristou,journalist;Dr.Svet Ribolov,Sofia University (St.Kliment Ohridshi);Reverend Dr. Kyprianos Kountouris,Theological School of the Church of Cyprus;and several others.*
Halki Summit III is co-sponsored by St.Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary (Orthodox Church in America);Holy Cross Orthodox School of Theology (Ecumenical Patriarchate);and Archon Peter Vlitas.

Martyred Orthodox Queen's Relics to Come Home - Republic of Georgia

Georgia and India have reached an agreement on the return of Queen St.Ketevan of Kakheti's relics to Georgia.The relics will be loaned to Georgia for a period of six months,during which the Georgian people will have several opportunities to venerate them.The Georgian Orthodox Queen of Kakheti in Eastern Georgia died on 13 September,1624 in Persia at the behest of the Muslim Savafid Empire's regent Shah Abbas,who,coveting her family's throne,had her taken hostage and then publicly tortured to death when she refused to convert to Islam.*
Catholic Augustinian friars witnessed the barbaric act and managed to spirit some of her relics off from Istfahan to their complex at Monte Santo in Old Goa,Western India for safekeeping.They were excavated from a stone sarcophagus,after more than a decade of work,by the Archeological Survey of India in 2004 and subsequently identified by DNA analysis in 2013.*
This will be a major event in Georgia,a former Soviet Republic in the Caucasus Mountains,and there will be international conferences there about the saint and her times.She is seen as one who stood up for the Orthodox faith and culture of Georgia.