(14 Aug 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Anchorage, Alaska – 13 August 2025
1, Orthodox priest leading prayer near iconostasis
2. Icon of Virgin Mary and candles
3. Wide church of St. Tikhon
4. Parishioner crossing
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Alexei, Archbishop of Sitka and Alaska of the Orthodox Church in America:
"We hope for sustained peace, we hope for a ceasefire, we hope for exchange of captives, we hope for the rebuilding of a world, part of a world that’s really been broken by war, by tragedy, by death, and by, of course, deep resentment and hatred and anger."
6. Candles lit dedicated to the repose of the deceased
7. Parishioners praying
8. Close prayer book
9. Parishioner reading prayer
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Alexei, Archbishop of Sitka and Alaska of the Orthodox Church in America:
"This is really a three-day assent of prayer, which begins with a church service really dedicated to St. Olga of Kuithluk, who is a newly glorified saint by the Orthodox Church in America. And she was known to be really a healer in families. And because of the great pain and hardship that is experienced by families in the Ukraine, and also in Russia. It felt good to start there, there would be healing there."
11. Reflection of choir member singing
12. Priest with censor
13. Icon and candle
14. Wide worshippers
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Alexei, Archbishop of Sitka and Alaska of the Orthodox Church in America:
"I think it shows a unity of support for peace. And it’s also our way of expressing hospitality, because hospitality is a central orthodox virtue. And with the leaders coming to Alaska, what is the one thing that the church can offer? And that is prayers for peace"
16. Interior of church office
17. Print with onion domes of Orthodox churches in Alaska
18. Flag of Russian Orthodox Diocese of Sitka and Alaska
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Alexei, Archbishop of Sitka and Alaska of the Orthodox Church in America:
"The Russians that came, they either married into native families and remained, or they didn’t, and they returned to Russia after the sale. There were never a large number of Russians here. But what did remain was the Russian Orthodox faith, the churches, and the clergy, which is the remaining legacy and I’d say the best part of the legacy of Russia in Alaska."
20. Mapping showing Alaska as “Russian America”
21. Orthodox cross on church
STORYLINE:
The Orthodox Church in America has been holding three days of prayer for peace at its churches across Alaska this week in advance of the summit between the U.S. and Russian presidents in Anchorage scheduled on Friday.
“With the leaders coming to Alaska, what is the one thing that the church can offer? That is prayers for peace,” said Archbishop Alexei of the Diocese of Sitka and Alaska in an interview with the Associated Prayers.
The first prayers, held Tuesday, sought the prayers of St. Olga of Kwethluk, an Alaska Native woman who was canonized as the first Orthodox woman saint in North America in June.
“She was known to be really a healer in families,” said Archbishop Alexei, who led in prayers to her on Tuesday at St. Innocent Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Anchorage. “And because of the great pain and hardship that is experienced.
Orthodoxy is the majority religion in both Russia and Ukraine, though it has also been a flashpoint with the Russian church’s support for the war and a deepening schism among Ukraine’s Orthodox.
AP video by Daniel Kozin
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