Father Michael Anton, Representative of the Coptic Orthodox Church in front of the ministerial committee to legalize churches, praised the increasing rate of legalizing churches, which reached 1500 churches for the Coptic Orthodox Church alone. He added that the church had applied to legalize about 4500 churches according to the law of 2016.

The Coptic Orthodox Church celebrated today the feast of Nineveh after a three-day fasting, during which late daily masses are celebrated. Nineveh fasting commemorates the three days that the Prophet Jonah spent in the belly of the Great Fish and the subsequent fast and repentance of the Ninevites at the warning message of the prophet Jonah according to the bible. The Fast is followed shortly by the Great Lent during which participants abstain from all kinds of dairy foods and meat products.

Bishop Tadros of Port Said concluded the pastoral care visit to Australia, which extended for 5 weeks, during which he met with the congregation and prepared a report about the diocese to be presented to Pope Tawadros II. Several decisions were made during the visit including the appointing of a new agent and secretary of a financial and administrative committee for the diocese, as well as establishing a committee for guardians of the funds and properties of the diocese. It was also decided to amend the diocese s bylaw.

60 deacons were ordained yesterday at the basic rank of Ebsaltus (chanter) in the monastery of St. Parsoum in Helwan. Bishop Besenty of Helwan also promoted 4 priests to the rank of Hegumin during the Holy Mass.

Dr. Mamdouh Ghurab, Governor of Sharqia, announced that 30 churches and affiliated buildings were legalized according to the law of houses of worship. He added during a meeting with church representatives that 52 other buildings are currently under the process of legalizing after completing the requirements of civil protection, Urban Planning and Engineering Affairs.

During his Pastoral care visit to Sideny, Bishop Tadros met with a number of a number of Australian judges and lawyers, including Michael Lee, judge of the Australian Federal Court, John Hutzesjus, judge of the New South Wales State Court, Tsavaridis, judge of the New South Wales District Court, and Robert Isaac, president of the William Roberts Law Firm. They discussed the appointment of a committee of guardians of the property and funds of the diocese, which requires amending the diocese constitution registered with many Australian government agencies.

Diocese of Samalout will open Museum and Panorama of the 21 Martyrs of Libya on February 15th. The panorama will include everything about the martyrs, starting with their imprisonment, slaughter, and return of their bodies. It it will also include documents and pictures in Arabic, English and French.

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, yesterday at the Pontifical headquarters in Alexandria, Patriarch Theodoros of Alexandria and the rest of Africa for the Greek Orthodox, who came to the Patriarchate in Alexandria at the head of a delegation. The meeting was attended by Bishops Pavly, Ilarion, Hermina, Sawirus, member of the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church.

The Monastery of the Virgin Mary and St. Tadros Al-Mashriqi in the Netherlands celebrated the feast of Prince Tadros in the presence of His Eminence Bishop Arsani of the Netherlands. Dr. Jacques van der Vliet, professor of Egyptology, delivered a lecture about the saint who was born and raised in Upper Egypt. On the second day, Bishop Arsani ordained a number of new deacons and perfumed the remains of the saints located in the monastery.

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.