His Holiness Pope Tawadros II opened first gathering of young Copts from all over the world at the Papal headquarters in Wadil Natroun. The gathering was entitled Joy which is the appreciation of Jesus Copts of Egypt.

Church sources confirmed that Pope Tawadros II will make a pastoral visit to the United States of America on 13 September.

A group of Coptic youth held signs in the streets of Minya governorate to congratulate Muslims on the Adha feast. Muslims thanked them for the nice gesture and assured the unity of the Egyptian people.

Abba Karas, Bishop of Pennsylvania, issued a statement to warn against dealing with or donating to the unrecognized monastery of St. John. The monastery was established by Abba Botros, the general bishop but has not followed the decisions of the Monastic and Monastic Affairs Committee to monitor the unrecognized monasteries which makes it unrecognized monastery by the Coptic Orthodox Church.

Abba Younis, Bishop of Assiut, said that the number of visitors to the monastery of St. Mayr in Dronka, Assiut, has increased this yeaer to 3 million visitors.

Medhat Oweida declares his candidacy to run in the federal Conservative nomination for the riding of Mississauga Streetsville. Medhat is a proud resident of Mississauga Streetsville with a background in law, social work, media and human rights activist. He has served the community with a strong passion for great Canadian heritage. His passion to run in the federal Conservative nomination for the riding of Mississauga Streetsville is to implement core service values rooted in Andrew Scheer s platform and vision for a Conservative Government in upcoming election. “I am proud and honored to announce my candidacy to run in the federal Conservative nomination for the riding of Mississauga Streetsville. As an active member of the community, I have seen the frustrations, insecurities and founded disappointments with Liberal diverted vision of Canadian ideals of the people of Mississauga Streetsville. “The primary goal is to be an advocate for the people.”

Abba Daniel, Bishop of Maadi, and the secretary of the Holy Synod, denied rumors about intentions to ordain a new bishop for St. Makar monastery assuring that such decision belongs to Pope Tawadros II. He also denied the transfer of a number of monks from the monastery to other Coptic monasteries or assigning the supervision of the monastery to Abba Makar, bishop of Sharkia.

Thousands of Copts participate in the celebrations of St. Mary in Assiut among tight security measures. The celebrations in Assiut are the biggest in the country in which thousands of Copts honor St. Mary at the place that was visited by the Holy Family.

Despite suicide bombing near St. Mary Church in Mostorod, Copts continued to celebrate St. Mary s fasting by attending the prayers in the churches. Thousands of Copts visited the church in the next day among tight security measures.

Police moved monk Faltaous of St. Makar monastery from Anglo-American hospital to Qas al-Ainy under tight security measures after he had attempted to commit suicide and the confessed to take part in the murder of Bishop Epiphanius. This comes as prosecution is still investigating the murder of Abba Epiphanius, Bishop of St. Makar monastery in front of his monastic cell.

Disgraced monk Isaiah of St. Macarious monastery said that he had planned twice to kill Bishop Epiphanius but failed until he was able to commit his crime at the third time. He added that one time the bishop was praying and the second time he woke up late.

6 members of Mostorod terrorist cell were arrested on charges of planning of terrorist attacks including the attack on St. Mary church in Mostorod. Statement of interior ministry said that police was able to prevent the terrorist from reaching inside the church and his explosive belt was exploded and killed the terrorist.

Mohamed Moustafa, Head of the Alexandria appeal court, has ordered monk Faltaous of St. Macarious be detained for four days pending investigations over the murder case of head of the monastery. The 33-year-old monk, birth name Raymond Rasmi Mansour, was arrested at the Anglo American Hospital in Zamalek where he is being treated after his attempted suicide last week.

The security forces managed to prevent a terrorist from reaching the church of St. Mary in Mostorod. The suicide bomber tried to blow himself inside the church but he couldn t reach it thanks to the vigilant policemen.

Minya security forces arrested Milad M., scrap dealer, on charges of killing his family. The man said he was suffering from large debts which led him to think about getting rid of his life, but he set his house on fire and killed his wife and 3 children.

Issam Badawi, Governor of Minya, attended the funeral ceremony of Abba Arsanyos, Metropolitan of Minya and Abu Bakrqas, who passed away on Saturday morning. The governor offered condolences to Pope Twadros II, Pope of Alexandria and the Patriarch St. Mark See, who presided over the funeral ceremony. For his part, Pope Tawadros said the late Bishop was an example for ministry, silence and toiling in the service.

Pope Tawadros II held a meeting with the monasteries’ affairs committee of the holy Synod during which he took several decisions concerning the monks. The new decisions included the closing of their social media accounts and to stop all media interviews. The committee also decided to stop accepting new monasticism seekers or the ordination of priests among the monks.

Abba Ibrahim Isaac, Patriarch of the Coptic Catholic Church, received Gang Woung, head of Korean Egyptian organization for development to discuss ways of cooperation between them. During the meeting, an agreement was signed between the two parties.

Initial investigations of police showed that the murderer of bishop Epiphanius used a big knife to kill him by hitting him from the back. The prosecution is currently investigating the matter to find out who killed the head of the monastery.

Sources in the Coptic Orthodox Church said that Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and patriarch of St. Mark See, will preside over the funeral of the late bishop Epiphanius, head of St. Makar monastery. Sources added that the funeral will be held at the monastery in Wadil Natrun in the presence of several bishops and monks.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko attacked the Russian Orthodox Church and said that its influence poses a direct threat to national security in his country. He added that the Orthodox Church is not separated from the Russian church and supports the imperialist policy of the Kremlin.