Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, received today a delegation from the Bundestag at the papal headquarter in St. Mark Cathedral. The delegation was headed by Mrs. Gidi Bensen, Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid of the Bundestag The Bundestag is the German federal parliament. It can be compared to the lower house of parliament along the lines of the United States House of Representatives, the Irish Dáil Éireann or the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, with the Bundesrat, though a separate institution, having a similar role to the upper house of a bicameral parliament.

Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, presided over the 40 days memorial service of the late Metropolitan Bishoy of Damietta and Kafr Elshiekh and former secretary of the Holy Synod. Pope talked in the service that was held at St. Demiana monastery in Belqas about unity of the church mentioned in the bible And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. (John 10: 16)

HG Bishop Yusab of Luxor received yesterday a French delegation headed by His Grace Bishop Athanasius, Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in France and John Maher, head of the French-Egyptian Human Rights Organization in France. The French delegation ended a visit to the Holy Family path as the first French delegation to visit it in Egypt. The delegation was also welcomed by a number of officials in Luxor.

His Holiness Pope Francis issued a message yesterday to dedicate prayers this month to speed the language of love against the language of weapons. He added that having peace in our heart is the first step to have peace in the world. Having compassion and totally rejecting violence is the next step to achieve the Evangelical peace.

After celebrating the third day memorial service of martyrs of St. Samuel monastery terrorist attack, Bishop Makarious of Minya, headed to Sheikh Zayed specialized hospital to visit the injured people of the attack. 11 people are receiving treatment at the hospital since their conditions demanded their transfer to Cairo after the attack.

Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, opened today St. Demiana hospital in Haram Street. The hospital is owned by the diocese of central Giza and serves the people in that area from all religions.

Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, held a meeting today with priests of Damietta to discuss the situation after the departure of the late Metropolitan Bishoy of Damietta and Kafr El-Sheikh. The meeting was attended by Bishop Paula of Tanta and the papal deputy of Damietta.

The Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center organized a celebration on the occasion of its 10th anniversary in the presence of ‘St. Angela’ choir in Budapest under the patronage of His Holiness Pope Twadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See. The celebration was held in the framework of cooperation between the Center and the State of Hungary.

Abba Makarious, Bishop of Minya, celebrated the holy mass at St. George Church in Sharara village among the congregation of the church in the village. Bishop Makarious has inaugurated the holy vessels and ordained a number of new deacons in the church.

Congregation and clergy of Luxor held today the funeral of the oldest priests in the diocese. Father Tawadros Guid died at the age of 80 after serving as priest for 56 years.

Sherif Diwany, the new Egyptian consul in France, visited the Coptic diocese in northern France. His visit came to introduce himself to the congregation and clergy of the diocese.

The Coptic Orthodox Church published a number of documents to prove its ownership of the Sultan Monastery in Jerusalem. Ownership of the monastery has been always to the Coptic orthodox church that had all the documents to prove so, and had a decision of the high Israeli court which said that Deir al sultan must back to the hand of the Coptic church The soley owner of it.

The diocese of Southern France and French part of Switzerland held conference for preparatory and Secondary school youth. The conference entitled God s world and education, and was attended by dozens of Coptic youth.

A number of Coptic monks of Sultan Monastery in Jerusalem were injured after Israeli security forces attacked the monastery today. Israeli occupation forces and an Israeli engineering committee broke into the Sultan s monastery Of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Jerusalem under the pretext of its restoration, despite the refusal of His Holiness Bishop Antony, the Coptic Archbishop of Jerusalem.

Spokesman of the Coptic Orthodox Church said that the fire erupted at the church of St. Mary in Ain Shams resulted in no deaths. He added that the fire was caused by electricity and was controlled by fire department.

Abba Estifanus, Bishop of Beba and Fashin, ordained two new priests at the church of St. George in Beba. The new priests are Father Begol Makram, and Father Potros Maher. A number of deacons were also ordained at the rank of Ebsaltus and Oghnostus.

Abba Becenty, Bishop of Helwan and Masaara, ordained 50 deacons at the church of St. Philopatir in Maasara. The new deacons were ordained at the basic rank of Ebsaltus, which means chanter.

Coptic Orthodox Church started the training of the fourth group of its project to train 1000 minister under auspices of Pope Tawadros II. The group included delegations from 12 dioceses all over Egypt and received training about how to use church resources and how to be creative.

Egypt and the European Union signed today two agreements for comprehensive growth and job creation to combat the challenges of migration in Egypt, with a total value of €135 million. The agreements were signed by Egypt s Minister of Investment Sahar Nasr and General Director of the Neighborhood Policy and EU Enlargement Christian Danielson. The minister clarified that the funding agreement for the program of EU s facility of comprehensive growth and job creation is worth €75 million. Nasr added that the agreement supporting the program to combat migration challenges in Egypt, worth €60 million, is funded by the European Emergency Fund for Africa, and includes contributions from Germany and the International Planning Organization.

The Board of Directors of the New Urban Communities approved the building of a new church in the city of Sadat. The new church will be built on 2000 square meters and will be following the Coptic Orthodox Church.

Abba Serapion, Archbishop of Los Angeles, visited the Monastery of St. Maurice in Switzerland as part of his pastoral visit to the diocese of southern France and the French sector of Switzerland. He was received by Abba Luke, Bishop of the diocese and a number of the clergy.