St. Athanasius and St. Cyril College of Theological Studies (ACTS) celebrated the graduation of its second batch of 14 graduate students at the same college in Clermont, California, who were awarded a master s degree in theological studies. The ceremony was attended by bishops Sarabion of Los Angeles, Abraham, of Los Angeles, Cyrilus of Los Angeles Abba Youssef, Bishop of Southern the United States attended the ceremony as a keynote speaker and spoke about the importance of theological studies and qualified Christian leaders.

Dr. Shawky Allam, Mufti of Egypt, condemned the recent suicide bombing attack on a mosque in Niger; killing ten worshipers who were inside the mosque. The Mufti said in a statement that once again the terrorist groups prove they know nothing about the principles and foundations of religions. The Mufti assured that Islam prohibits the killing of innocent people.

Abba Karas, Bishop of Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, ordained the first Coptic priest in the diocese. Dr. Shaker Morkos, was named Father Daniel during the ordination. The new priest will travel to Egypt to spend 40 days of spiritual retreat at the monastery of St. Bishoy in Wadil Natroun.

The media center of the Coptic Orthodox Church announced the death of monk Mina of St. Paul monastery after years of struggling with disease and spending 40 years paralyzed. Father Mina was born on May 29, 1947 and was ordained a monk on November 24, 1977.

His Holiness Pope Twadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, received at the papal residence at the Cathedral of St. Mark in Abbasiya Mr. Sherif Lithy, the Egyptian ambassador to Cameroon. The meeting was attended by Father Daoud Lamai, priest of the Church of St. Mark the Apostle in Heliopolis and Father Salmon, the Coptic priest in Ghana.

The relics of 20 Coptic martyrs of Libya returned to their home village of Awr in Minya where they were buried in a special shrine in their church. Several Coptic bishops and thousands of Copts celebrated the holy mass at the church of martyrs in Minya. The relics of the martyrs returned to Egypt from Libya yesterday where they received by Pope Tawadros at the airport.

Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, said that Coptic martyrs of Libya were very steadfast and never feared death in the name of Christ. He added that video published by the terrorists who killed them showed how much they loved praise and prayer for God till their very end.

During the annual celebrations of the Monastery of the Virgin Mary at Jebel el Tair, Abba Pfnotious, bishop of Samalout, inaugurated two new churches at the monastery. The new churches are called Church of the Escape to the Land of Egypt and the Church of the Grotto .

Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, celebrated the feast of St. Mark in his Cathedral in Alexandria. Pope perfumed the remains of St. Mark and delivered a sermon about the ministry of the great saint. The celebration was attended by several bishops and priests of the diocese.

Pope Twadros II inaugurated on Saturday the altars and icons of a church St. Athanasius in the Siyouf area of Alexandria. The incubation ceremony was attended by Bishop Kyrillos, head of St. Mina Monastery in Mariout, Abba Sallib Bishop of Met Ghamr, Abba Karas, General Bishop of Mahalla, Abba Pavli, General Bishop of Montazah, Abba Hermina, bishop of Ain Shams, and Anba Illarion, Bishop of Western Alexandria. The church dates back to 1962 when St. Cyril VI visited the land dedicated to the church and blessed it. The church was built in 1968 and opened by Pope Cyril on April 24, 1970.

Najib Gabriel, Coptic lawyer, announced he has filed a lawsuit with 20 public figures demanding the Minister of the Interior to return the sessions of advice and guidance before converting into Islam. He explained that the regulation for more than 40 years has been using such advisory sessions to make sure the person who converts to another religion is really willing to do so or he has another reason to convert to the other religion.

The Egyptian Grand Museum received today the wheel of war and the third funerary chamber of King Tutankhamun, in the framework of the Egyptian-Japanese project to transfer 72 artifacts to be displayed in its integrated collection inside the museum at the opening of its first phase later this year. Dr. Tariq Tawfiq, general supervisor of the Grand Egyptian Museum, said that this is the fifth wheel to be transferred to our collection in the Museum, and that this funerary bed is one of the most important belongings of the King.

Minya Police Department managed to arrest a man called Sadik Mohamed who was sentenced to life imprisonment The man is a farmer who was accused of storming and burning of churches and was also fined 20.000 LE.

The annual 23rd seminar of the priests of Behira and Banha was held in St. Mark house in Damanhour. The seminar was entitled the priest and the life of the depth was attended by Bishops Pachomious of Behira, Maximus of Banha and Pavly of youth in Alexandria.

A delegation of Coptic priests visited the Christian prisoners in Margy prison. They celebrated the holy mass with the prisoners as part of the pastoral care provided for the prisoners.

Syrian Churches denounced the American-British-French attacks of on their country. Statements of the churches described the attack as oppressive and said it violates all international laws.

In a new episode of The Heritage of Our Church: Spirit and Life television program, Abba Raphael, secretary of the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church, talked about the acceptance of the others. He added that church unity is critically related to the concept of acceptance of the others as each church has different thinking concerning communion and priesthood. Such differences should be respected

Coptic Diocese of Mississauga, Vancouver, and Western Canada celebrated the Resurrection of Jesus Christ in the presence of its bishop Abba Mina and the clergy of St. Mary and St. Athanasius in Mississauga. A delegation from the Canadian government as well as the Egyptian Embassy in Canada attended the celebration to congratulate the Copts on their feast.

On the occasion of Easter 2018, The Coptic church published the Papal Encyclical of the Glorious Feast of the Resurrection, which reads: Ekhristos Anesti, Alithos Anesti. Christ is risen, Truly, He is risen. I congratulate you my beloved for the Glorious Feast of the Resurrection. The Feast of the Resurrection is the epitome of our feasts and the most joyful of our joys. I congratulate everyone everywhere. I congratulate all fathers the Metropolitans, Bishops, hegumens, presbyters, monks, deacons, all elders, the members of church boards in all dioceses, all people, youth, servants, all families, and young children. I congratulate you on the Glorious Feast of the Resurrection, which is known by three names: We call it the “Feast of Passover”, meaning to pass from darkness to light. This is the night before the Resurrection Liturgy, the Apocalypse night, when we enter the church in darkness and conclude with the holy liturgy on the Bright Saturday in the light. We also call it the Feast of the Easter. This word is derived from the word “East”. It is an eastern feast, and the east is always associated with light. I also congratulate you by its third name, Sunday. It is the feast of Sunday, which means day of the light. This is the day of light, Feast of the Light. In the various events of the glorious resurrection, occurring during the week of Pascha, we encounter several characters. The resurrection is the biggest event in the history of mankind and implants hope for humanity. We are faced with two types of people. One kind of human being causes pain while another implants hope. In the Arabic language, both words “Pain” and “Hope” have exactly the same letters, but are arranged differently. There are those who cause pain and suffering in the lives of men, and others who implant hope and optimism. The resurrection is the greatest earthly event implanting hope in men s souls. Let us take some few examples. When we read in the beginning of the New Testament, we read about King Herod. A man who caused pain. He was responsible for the killing of the children of Bethlehem. These were younger than two years old. His intent was to kill the child Jesus. He caused and nurtured pain that resulted in crying and lamentations that filled the land because of children s slaughter. More examples of people who caused pain for men are the Jews who crucified the Lord Christ. The sufferings of crucifixion were enormous physically, psychologically and emotionally. They included the pain of mockery, nails, crown of thorns, and the cross itself. There were the screams of the crowd present, their wrath, insults, and harsh words directed to the Lord Christ on the cross. These extreme sufferings were inflicted by the Jews who crucified the Lord Christ. They culminated by the death of Christ on the cross. Another example of those who caused pain in the lives of men was Judas, the traitor disciple. He was a disciple selected by Christ, with his brothers the disciples. He lived among them, watched the miracles of the Lord Jesus Christ and listened to His teachings. But his inferior personality allowed him to compromise Christ with money, causing extensive pain by betraying and selling Him cheaply. This concluded by hanging and suicide.

Father Dr. Makari Abdallah, the priest of the Church of Archangel Michael in Toson, departed yesterday after a priestly service of nearly 50 years. According to the Coptic Cultural Center, Makari was a professor and head of the mathematics department at the Faculty of Science, Cairo University.

The Coptic diocese of Tima decided to celebrate the 40 day departure anniversary on April 17th. The memorial service will be held at the new Cathedral of Tima that was built by the late bishop.