Bishop Daniel of Maadi was elected as Secretary General of the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church.

Armin Lachit, Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, called for the official recognition of Islam in Germany.

Father Rofael Smay, the Secretary of the Egyptian Family House branch in Fayoum, said that the return of the remains of the Coptic martyrs in Libya to their hometown in Egypt is a message to the whole world that Egypt takes good care of her children. He added that the state has exerted great efforts to return the remains of these martyrs to be a great blessing to its land.

Dozens of Copts are visiting the shrine of the martyrs of Libya in Aour village, Minya, amid tight security measures. The relics of the martyrs were put yesterday at their shrine in the church of the Martyrs of Faith and the Homeland after they were transferred from Libya to Egypt.

Spanish newspapers have highlighted the continued campaign of ISIS terrorist organization against Christian communities and publishing threats to Pope Francis. This came after series of bombings against three Catholic churches in one of the cities Indonesia which was carried out by a number of suicide bombers killing at least 13 people.

Sources in the Coptic Orthodox Church said the next session of the Holy Synod will witness changes in church leaders. Sources expected that Abba Daniel, Bishop of Maadi will take responsibilities of the General Secretary of the Holy Synod while Abba Markos, Bishop of Qubba Gardens have taken the responsibly of the Clerical council .

Al-Azhar condemned the terrorist attacks on three churches in the city of Surabaya, Indonesia killing and injuring dozens of Christians. Statement of Al-Azhar stressed that such criminal acts are abhorred by all religions and humanitarian principles including Islam.

Abba Bishoy, Metropolitan of Kafr el-Sheikh and Barari Belqas, said that St. Mary appeared at several churches in Egypt including her apparition in Zeiton in 1968. He added that the Virgin has only appeared in Egypt at the Coptic Orthodox churches and it is not fanaticism to state that no other sects were blessed by the holy apparitions. His Grace explained that the Coptic Orthodox Church was mentioned in the Old Testament by Isaiah the prophet who said Blessed be Egypt my people and also said In that day shall there be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the LORD

The Council of Churches of the Middle East held a meeting to discuss the situation of Christians in the Middle East under the recent political and security situation. The meeting was held for two days and called international community to support the existence of Christmas in the Middle East.

Abba Pfnotius, bishop of Samalout, said that the church is ready to receive the remains of the martyrs of Libya. Father Dawood Nashid, deputy of the diocese, said that the Minister of Foreign affairs is coordinating with the church to decide the date of receiving the remnants of the martyrs and place them at the church in their hometown.

Police investigations reveal increasing target of Copts by ISIS between Port Said and Sheikh Zuwaid. Investigations also revealed that a school owned by the church was set on fire and a woman called Fatma Anwar played an important role in helping the terrorists.

The monastery of St. Demiana in Belqas is celebrating her feast among tight security measures. The monastery announced that the celebrations will continue from May 13 to May 20.

The Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services held a conference on contemporary challenges in cooperation with the Swedish Sigtuna Foundation. The conference was attended by 50 participants from countries like Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. Andrea Zaki, spokesman for the Evangelical church, said that the conference discussed very important issues related to the Christian congregation.

Abba Samuel, Bishop of Tamwa, ordained two new priests at the church of St. Stephen and St. Sameul in Tamwa. The new priests are Father Phiopatir Farouk and Father Daneil Farag.

Coptic Christians celebrate the martyrdom feast of St. George on May 1st. The reverenced Martyr was born in 280 in Palestine. He was tortured for seven consecutive years because of his Christian faith.

The Evangelical Church in Egypt received 7 licenses for churches in Aswan, Behira and Ismailia. Youssef, Talaat, lawyer of the church, said that the 7 churches came on a list of 166 churches to be licensed.

Egypt’s Attorney General Nabil Sadiq ordered the transfer of 555 of those arrested in Sinai to stand trial before the Military Court. The defendants are accused of forming 43 terrorist that carried out 63 terrorist attacks on police and armed forces.

The Supreme State Security Prosecution said that the elements of the terrorist cell that carried out the armed attack on a security patrol in Badrashin last July killed five policemen. Investigations revealed that the terrorists targeted and planned to target policemen as well as church of Archangel Michael in Badrashin.

Egypt restored a precious treasure from Cyprus where the director of the Department of the Cypriot Antiquities handed the Egyptian authorities 14 pieces of antiquities that had been illegally smuggled from Egypt 30 years ago. For his part, the Egyptian Minister of Antiquities expressed his great pleasure in retrieving this precious treasure, thanking the Cypriot authorities for its efforts.

Spokesman for the Coptic Orthodox Church said that Pope Tawadros II will be publishing a daily message in the form of short videos. He explained that the messages will be in 3 languages aiming to give better communication opportunity with the Copts in the Diaspora.

Several bishops of the Coptic Orthodox Church visited the monastery of St. George in Mitt Damesses to celebrate the feast of the saint. The celebrations were headed by Bishop Bishoy of Damietta and Kafr El Sheikh and was attended by a number of Coptic bishops,