Nicaragua, Abkhazia establish diplomatic relations.

MEXICO CITY, September 11 (Itar-Tass) - Representatives of Nicaragua
and the Republic of Abkhazia on Thursday signed a joint statement on the
establishing of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

At the ceremony that was held in the Nicaraguan capital Managua, they
also signed an agreement on regular consultations between their Foreign
Ministries.
The documents that lay the foundation for a further development of
bilateral relations were signed in the course of a visit to Nicaragua by
an Abkhazian delegation with Deputy Foreign Minister Maxim Kvindzhiya at
the head.
"These documents have special significance for practical connections
between the two republics and they will help to flesh out bilateral
relationship with tangible content," Russia's ambassador to Nicaragua Igor
Kondrashov told Itar-Tass by telephone from Managua.
Maxim Kvindzhiya said, on his part, Nicaragua became the first Latin
American country to establish relations with Abkhazia. "Also, it was
country number two in the world after Russia to take this step," he said.
According to Kvindzhiya, Abkhazian businesses have intensive interest
in developing business cooperation with the Nicaraguans. He spoke in favor
of a parallel expansion of Russian-Nicaraguan trade.
Upon completion of the visit to Nicaragua, the delegation goes to
Venezuela where it also expects the signing of an agreement on the
establishing of diplomatic relations.
Kvindzhiya said this became possible after Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez said during a visit to Russia his country had officially recognized
Abkhazia as an independent sovereign state.

.Highly venerated icon to be brought to Russia after 89 yrs of exile.

NEW YORK, September 11 (Itar-Tass) - Highly venerated wonderworking
Kursk 'Root' Icon of the Virgin Mary of the Sign that was taken out of
Russia in 1920 by the retreating forces of supporters of the monarchy
begins a trip to its native country from the U.S. later Friday.
At 12 p.m. EDST, a parting prayer will be held in the Orthodox
Cathedral of the Sign in New York City. It will be attended by members of
the delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia /ROCOR/ that
will accompany the icon during its trip to Moscow and the city of Kursk
where it originated from.
Upon completion of the prayer, the priests and deacons on the
delegation will leave for the JFK.
ROCOR's mission to Russia is led by the supreme hierarch of the
Church, Metropolitan Hillarion of Eastern America and New York.
"The forthcoming visit of this icon to the Fatherland marks one more
stage in the strengthening of Church unity - the process that began May
17, 2007, with the signing of an Act on Canonical Communications," His
Beatitude Hillarion told a group of Russian correspondents.
"This event has a cosmic scale not only for Russia but also for the
entire community of Russians abroad that has been keeping this icon of the
Virgin Mary since 1920," he said. "This icon visits churches, hospitals
and the houses of ordinary believers. It's traveled to all the continents,
to all ROCOR dioceses."
"The Lord sends his mercy and blessing upon believers through the
intercession of Our Lady, giving us miracles, consolation and heavenly
assistance," His Beatitude Hillarion said.
"That's why we refer to Our Lady with the Greek word Hodigetria, which
means 'the Guiding Light'," he said.
"We entrust our main shrine to the Orthodox brethren in Russia,"
Metropolitan Hillarion said. "When there exists unity in the Church, then
there must be trust, of course."
Right after the landing of the jet at Moscow's international
Sheremetyevo airport Saturday, June 12, the Virgin Mary of the Sign will
be taken to the downtown Cathedral of the Savior where it will be met by
the Metropolitan of Krutitsy and Kolomna Juvenal, who will conduct a
special festive service of Vespers.
The icon will stay in the Cathedral of the Savior through to September
23. During the eleven days, clerics and laymen from the churches of Moscow
City will chant a special song of laudations - the acathistos - in front
of the icon.
Patriarch Kirill is expected to lead the ceremony of the 'transfer' of
the icon to its native city Kursk, 500 kilometers to the south of Moscow,
September 23. A special religious feast will be held there on the occasion.
The Kursk 'Root' Icon of the Virgin Mary of the Sign is one of the
oldest indigenous Russian icons of Our Lady known to date. It is first
mentioned in a chronicle with reference to the year 1295.
It was in 1295 that the 'invention' - or finding - of the icon took
place. The event occurred at the site of today's Hermitage of the Root
near Kursk, and the icon was found literally lying on the roots of an
oak-tree.
At different times, the clergy blessed with it the Russian troops
going to war with the Crimean Khanate and with Napoleon.
In 1597, it was ceremoniously met in Moscow by Ivan the Terrible's
son, Czar Theodore.
The religious procession from the Monastery of the Sign in Kursk to
the Hermitage of the Root in previous centuries drew thousands upon
thousands of believers from across Russia.
These processions had such a huge significance for the rank-and-file
Russians that the State Council sitting in St Petersburg passed a decision
to make the dates on which these processions took place days off work.
One of these processions was depicted by painter Ilya Repin in his
painting 'The Cross-Bearing Procession in the Kursk Governorate' that is
now kept in the Tretyakov Arts Gallery in Moscow.
The Monastery of the Sign in Kursk was ruined during the Civil War
that broke out less than a year after the Revolution of November 1917, but
the wonderworking icon was rescued.
Russian clerics took it abroad in April 1920 and it eventually reached
the U.S. where it is kept in the New Hermitage of the Root near New York
City.
According to Metropolitan Hillarion, ROCOR and Moscow Patriarchate
clerics will keep a permanent watch on the icon during its sojourn in the
motherland.
It will be covered with a special glass, which is typically done with
icons before they are placed for veneration by masses of believers.
-0-kle