The Philippines and Vietnam Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church is happy to announce that construction has begun on a new church on the island of Sarangani.
His Eminence Metropolitan Paul of Manila and Hanoi blessed the foundation stone of the new Church of St. Thomas in the village of Kinabalan last year, though construction was postponed due to the pandemic, the diocese reports.
With the help of parishioners, the plot of land has been leveled and sand has been delivered to cover the space under the foundation.
The Church of St. Seraphim of Sarov in the city of Makalangote on the island of Mindanao became the first Russian church in the Philippines to be consecrated last February. In November, parishioners found that four icons were miraculous streaming myrrh, as testified to by Met. Paul.
In December, Fr. Philemon (Castro), the Patriarchate of Constantinople’s senior-most priest serving in the Philippines moved to the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church, prompting the Patriarchate of Constantinople to run advertisements declaring itself “the only canonical Orthodox Church” in the Philippines.