Meanwhile, the spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Istanbul, also intervened.

CNN: Reporter held for 21 days in Iranian jails

Despite the attacks, Orthodox Christians in Serbia celebrated Dukhovi, the third-holiest day in the Eastern Orthodox calendar.

CNN: NATO says bridge was legitimate target

I'm a convert to Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and we Eastern Orthodox Christians are going through our Lent now.

NPR: For Spring, an Attempt to Forgo Meat

Members of the Eastern Orthodox church have been offended by the attempts of the Catholic church to proselytise in Russia.

ECONOMIST: The pope's succession planning | The

But he also reached out to the Eastern Orthodox Churches and spoke up for Christians persecuted in the Middle East.

CNN: Why pope will be remembered for generations

He apologised to Jews for Catholic passivity during the Holocaust, prayed at a Syrian mosque and took steps to heal the rift between Catholics and adherents of the various eastern Orthodox churches.

ECONOMIST: In John Paul's footsteps | The

Their Church split from the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches in 451AD because of a theological dispute over the nature of Christ but is now, on most issues, doctrinally similar to the Eastern Orthodox Church.

BBC: Christians in the Middle East debate part two