In his weekly sermon, Pope Tawadros II started by congratulating the people on the occasion of the Annunciation feast and the apparition of our lady in Zeitoun anniversary. The weekly sermon was delivered this week at the Logos Center in St. Bishoy monastery in Wadil Natroun.

Bishop Daniel of Sidney opened a new church in Gosford in NAW state, Australia. The church was named after the Virgin Mary and St. Luke.

The Church of the Virgin Mary in Zeitoun holds its celebrations of the 51st anniversary of the Virgin Mary’s Apparition in her church on April 2, 1968. During celebrating the Holy Mass, Bishop Eklimindos of Almaza, Ezbet El Haggana and East Nasr City, ordained 61 deacons in the rank of Oghnostus.

The Coptic Orthodox Church announced that Pope Tawadros II has delegated Bisohp Aklimandes, the general bishop, to attend the celebrations of the national day of Greece. The general bishop of Almaza and Nasr City has traveled to Greece to attend the celebrations on behalf of Pope TAwadros.

Abba Pachom, Bishop of Suhag, ordained two new priests at the Cathedral of St. George in Suhag. Deacon Walid Kamal was called Father Domadious, and deacon Talaat Samy was called Father Wissa. The ordination ceremony was attended by Bishop Ologious, head of St. Shenouda monastery in Suhag.

The Coptic Orthodox Church Media Center said that His Holiness Pope Tawadros II received today at the papal headquarters at the Cathedral of St. Mark in Abbasiya Mother Serafima, head of the monastery of the resurrection of the Russian Church. Mother Serafima was accompanied by Mother Takla, head of St. George Monastery of Old Cairo.

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, received a delegation from the German Evangelical Chruch who is currently visiting Egypt. The delegation is attending the annual conference of the EKD Church, which is held in Egypt this year.

Ayman Hamza, a spokesman for the Ministry of Electricity, said that the Benban solar mega project in Aswan has won the World Bank Award as the most distinctive project. He added that the investment in the project is $ 2 billion, with the participation of 32 companies, provides 10 thousand jobs and produces 1465 megawatts.

Advisor Moncef Suleiman, representative of the Church in the community dialogue on amendments of the constitution, said that the Coptic Orthodox Church supported the increase of presidential term to 6 years during the draft of the 2014 constitution. He also stressed that the Church supports the return of the Senate again and demanded to grant it a full legislative powers.

Bishop Bafnotius of Samalut, ordained two new deacons at the Cathedral of Savior of the World. Ibrahim Paula and Milad Nazir were ordained deacons after passing medical and psychological tests for service in the diocese.

His Holiness Pope Tawadrous II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, inaugurated on Saturday the altars, icons and baptism of St. George Church in Manial. Pope has baptized 3 children at the church and promoted two priests to the rank of Hegumin. This came at the Golden Jubilee of the church in the presence of several bishops.

Canal Authority announced on Wednesday that traffic passing through Egypt s Suez Canal reached an all-time record, marking the highest tonnage per day in the waterway s history, with 5.5 million tons, and 71 ships crossing from both sides. Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority Mohab Mamish said 35 ships passed through the canal coming from the north with a total load of 2.2 million tons, while 36 ships coming from the south crossed with a total load of 3.3 million tons. He added that the unprecedented records in the canal s traffic in terms of the number and tonnage of transit vessels give a clear indication of the success of the New Suez Canal project supported by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and the Egyptian people.

The Coptic Church Media Center announced that the Executive Committee of the Middle East Council of Churches held its periodic meeting on 22 and 23 January in the Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate in Al-Atashana Municipality in Lebanon. Statement added that the Coptic Orthodox Church participated in the meeting with the presence of HG Bishop Benjamin of Mantoufia, and Bishop Thomas of Qusiya and Mir as well as Mr. Gerges Saleh, Honorary Secretary General of the Council of Churches of the Middle East. They watched a documentary film about the late Bishop Bishoy of Damietta and Kafr El Sheikh who has been a member of the Council of Middle East Churches since 1985 until his departure in October 2018.

Bishop Michale of Hadayek Qubba, Abbasia, and Waily, has celebrated the feast of the wedding of Cana of Galilee, which coincides with the feast of the martyrdom of St. Demiana in her church at Waily. He perfumed the remains of St. Demiana in a celebration held last Monday at her church.

The Ministry of Interior announced in a statement the arrest of a terrorist cell in the province of Qalioubia. Five terrorist were killed in exchange of fire with police and several weapons and bombs were found in their possession. The cell had planned to attack vital installations and members of the armed forces and the police.

Bishop Peter of North and South Carolina, USA, ordained a new priest for the ministry at the diocese. The ordination ceremony was carried out at the church of Archangel Michel at Greenville, South Carolina, in the presence of Abba Bezel and Abba Gregory, general bishops of the United States of America.

Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, attended the celebration of photography competition called Egypt is Beautiful at the Great Cathedral of St. Mark. The competition was organized by the Media Center of the Coptic Orthodox Church, and aims to show the beauty of Egypt and its great history and its spectacular sightseeing.

Mohammad Anwar Esmat Sadat, former MP, called the Supreme Committee to confront sectarian events to play its role in the recent events that took place at Zafarana village in Minya. He added that this is the first real test on the ground to remove feelings of tension, anger and distress.

A number of Muslim activists called to boycott products of Amazon website in rejection of products that insult Islam. They said the farce is not accepted by Amazon and is in violation of the terms and conditions of the product offer since Amazon code of ethics does not allow products that promote, incite racial and religious intolerance or promote organizations with such views.

President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi and Pope Tawadros II will open today the Nativity of Christ Cathedral at the new Administrative Capital. Special buses will transport people from Cairo to the new Cathedral, which is considered the biggest in Egypt and the Middle East, and will return them back after the holy mass.

Dr. Jaber Asfour , the former Minister of Culture, denounced the cultural situation in Egypt since 1972, as Egypt moved from liberalism and openness to retardation and Theocracy. He added that the second article states that Islamic law is the main source of legislation, and Article 6 protects the sheikh of al-Azhar and forbids the president from isolating him until his death, stressing that the two articles are against the modern civil state.