Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, issued a decision to appoint Bishop Tadros of Port Said as Papal deputy for the diocese of Sydeny, Australia. This came after a committee of 3 bishops has visited the diocese and presented a report about the situation. Moreover, Father Hanna Gad has replaced Father Tadros Samaan as deputy of the diocese. It is expected that Bishop Tadros will visit Australia after Christmas celebrations to study the pastoral, financial and administrative conditions closely and present a detailed report to His Holiness Pope Tawadros II.

Bishop Bemwa of Suez headed the New Year celebration at St. George Church in Sabah, Suez, while the prayers focused on good, love and peace for Egypt and the world. Extra security measures have been taken to secure churches at the celebration.

Police in Egypt is taking extra security measures to secure the churches on New Year s eve. A number of bomb experts also carried out a comprehensive scan of all churches and monasteries. Special forces and military police were placed in all vital places in order to deal with all potential threats and situations.

The Coptic Church in Sudan celebrated yesterday the enthronement of Bishop Sarabamoun on the Diocese of Omdurman, Atbara and North Sudan. The celebration was attended by bishop Bemen of Naqada and Qus, and Bishop Elija of Khartoum and Hossam Issa, the ambassador of Egypt in the Sudan as well as a number of the Sudanese political and social leaders.

St. Mina Monastery in Mariout, Alexandria, holds next Wednesday the ninth anniversary of the Saints’ Church martyrs who were victims of terrorist attack on Christmas eve. 20 people were killed in the attack and dozens were injured and the martyrs were buried in a special shrine and a new church are built for them in the monastery.

The Coptic Church of the Virgin and St. Abraam in Brighton, England, held a special celebration for children on the occasion of Christmas. The celebration was attended by HE Bishop Paula of Tanta who also inaugurated new vessels and ordained new deacons in the rank of Ebsaltus.

The church of the Saints in Alexandria is celebrating the 9th anniversary of its martyrs who have been killed in suicide bomb attack on Christmas eve in 2011. The church is celebrating a spiritual festival for several days during which holy masses and Vespers.

Mississauga City Council decided to rename Fallingbrook Part after Father Angelos Saad, priest of the church of the Virgin Mary and St. Athanasious in the city. This came to honor the priest as leader of the biggest community and founder of many Coptic churches in Canada.

His Eminence Bishop Arsany of the Netherlands received today a delegation from the UAE embassy, headed by Ambassador Dr. Hessa Abdullah Al Otaiba, UAE Ambassador to the Netherlands, at the Coptic Cultural Center in Amsterdam. The visit comes in the context of the celebration of UAE of the Year of Tolerance.

Coptic denominations offered thank President al-Sisi for legalizing 87 new churches. The committee on the legalization of churches at its Wednesday meeting approved legalizing the status of 87 churches and affiliated buildings to raise the total number of legalized churches to 1322 churches.

Bishop Hedra of Aswan ordained 2 new priests at the church of St. George in Kom Ombo in the presence of Bishop Youacim of Esna and Armant. The new priests are Father Matta Murad and Bishoy Hanna. They headed to the monastery to spend 40 days of spiritual retreat according to the Coptic rituals.

Bishop Arsani of the Netherlands inaugurated today a special mural of mosaic by the architect Adel Nassif at the Church of Our Lady and St. Athanasius in Assen, the Netherlands. The mural aims to spread awareness of Coptic art, especially among youth of the Diaspora and to express the great Egyptian history and art.

Bloomberg said in a recent report that the profits of Egyptian companies have increased to record levels as a result of floating the Egyptian pound. It added that the inflation rate approached an unprecedented low rate, and that the foreign reserves flourished, and that the EGP achieved its best annual performance since 1999.

Dr. Tariq Jammal, president of Assiut University announced the issuance of a presidential decree to reappoint Dr. Wajdi Refat Farid Nakhleh, Dean of the Faculty of Specific Education for three years. This is his second term in the same position, which was preceded by his position as the Vice-Dean for Community Service and Environmental Development.

Catholic Church in Sharqia Province is holding a grand celebration today to receive the remains of St. Teresa, who arrived to Egypt from France, to roam a number of governorates of Egypt, and bless the Egyptian people. The remains arrived from Aexandria to Sharqia and will head to Sharm el-Sheikh, after spending some time in the cities of the province.

Copts of Sydney joined a march against violence against women organized by Randwick Municipality. The participants held picture of Jihan Kyrolous who was recently killed by her husband.

Monks of St. Shenouda Monastery in in New South Wales, Australia, thanked firefighters for precautionary measures to protect the monastery from the forest fires with the high temperatures and low rainfall. The firefighters worked hard to burn the bushes and dry grass surrounding the buildings around the monastery. The monastery also thanked the neighbors who provided meals for the firefighters, and held prayers for rain.

The Church of Our Lady and St. Verena celebrated the third anniversary of the purchase and founding of the church. The celebration was headed by HG Bishop Arsani who ordained a group of deacons at the rank of Ebsaltus (chanter) and Ognostos (reader). The ceremony was also attended by Mr. Han Ter Heegde, Mayor of Bussum.

Assiut prosecutor ordered the detention of 4 people who kidnapped a Coptic child for the ransom. The defendants confessed in their statements to the Public Prosecution that they kidnapped the 13-year-old student on his return from school to demand a large sum of money from his family as ransom.

Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, inaugurated the Church of the Virgin Mary and St. Mark in Belgium in the presence of many bishops, clergy and the congregation of the church. This came during his pastoral care visit to Europe.

Youhna Gaber, spokesman of Helwan diocese that the wood of the building was completely destroyed in the fire of St. George Church. He added that police is currently investigating the matter to find out the reason behind the fire.