The Youth Bishopric organized its annual conferences for the summer period this year through the Zoom application on the Internet from July 23 to August 7 due to the spread of Corona virus. The conference took the title Rise Up Heroes and was attended by nearly 20,000 people, representing 65 dioceses inside Egypt and 9 dioceses from Diocesan Diaspora.

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II cast his vote today in the Senate elections, at Al-Qubbah Al-Fadawiya Primary School in Al-Waili Polling Station. The Coptic Churches have invited people to cast their votes in Senate elections and bishops of various dioceses were keen to cast their votes today in the poll station.

The information center of the Coptic Orthodox Church issued a statement of the procedures that will be followed in conjunction with the reopening of the churches today after nearly 5 months of closure. These procedures include social distancing, wearing masks, sterilizing, registering before attendance, bringing one’s tools, napkins and water and strictly following the instructions.

Egypt s Ministry of Immigration announced that more than 10 thousand users so far are interacting with its online application (Call Egypt) on their mobile phones during the trial period of the application, which was launched by the ministry in both Arabic and English as a tool to enhance communication with Egyptians abroad using modern technologies. For her part, Ambassador Nabila Makram Abdel-Shahid, Minister of State for Immigration and Egyptians Affairs Abroad, said that the launch of this electronic application is an affirmation of the Ministry s desire to respond and meet the demands of the various segments of Egyptians abroad by merging the services provided to them in one application and will help in the voting process begins in the Senate elections scheduled for August 9 and 10 this month.

Egypt’s Ministry of Local Development held a meeting through the video conference technology to discuss the project of reviving the path of the Holy Family in Egypt. Senior officials of 8 govenrorates where the project is located attended the meeting along with representatives from the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the Egyptian Coptic Church and the Council of Ministers and the civil coordination coordination pass. During the meeting, Major General Mahmoud Shaarawy, minister of Local Development, assured the importance of the project for tourism in Egypt and its great value for the whole world.

Bishop Daniel of Sydney and Bishop Youstos, head of St. Anthony monastery, visited the monastery of St. Anthony in Atfih known as al-Maimoun. They were received by priests of the monastery and Bishop Zocima Atfih.

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II met today with priests of the Gulf countries in the presence of Bishop Julius of Old Cairo and supervisor of the churches of the Gulf through the application of zoom. Pope delivered a sermon about humility and discussed pastoral issues with the priests of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Sultanate of Oman.

His Eminence Bishop Zuseima of Atfih celebrated the feast of the great martyr Prince Tadros Al-Shatbi, with the priests and congregation of the church of the Apostles. During the celebration, he perfumed the remains of the saint and delivered a sermon about faith and victory.

The Coptic Orthodox Church mourned today the departure of the oldest priest in Giza diocese, Father Paul Kamel of Archangel Michael in Embaba. The late priest was born in 1930 and was ordained a priest in 1964.

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, received at the Pontifical Headquarters in Cairo His Eminence Bishop Ilarion of the Red Sea. The media center of the Coptic Orthodox Church said that the meeting came to discuss matters of the ministry.

The Coptic Diocese of the Netherlands held a ceremony honoring former Egyptian Ambassador to the Netherlands Amjad Abdel Ghaffar. The celebration was attended by His Eminence Bishop Arsani of the Netherlands, a number of priests and Egyptian officials.

Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, perfumed the remains of St. Bishoy on his feast at the monastery of St. Bishoy in Wadil Natroun. The celebration was attended by Bishops Methaous, Esizirus, Danile, Mina, Eklimindus, and Michael, members of the Holy Synod.

The Coptic Orthodox Church celebrated today the feast of St. John the Baptist, the son of Zakaria the priest. His parents Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and judgments of the Lord without blame. Elizabeth was conceived in her old days and when St. Mary entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth, and when Elizabeth heard the peace of Mary, the fetus ran in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit” (Luke 1: 40-44) .

The Egyptian water expert Nader Nour El-Din denounced recnt statements of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia regarding the filling of the Renaissance Dam, saying: It is a malicious statement and threat to say he will not cut water to Egypt. El-Din said that nobody has talked about cutting water, but only about reducing the amount of water arriving in Sudan and Egypt. Such talks about cutting off water means declaring war. Therefore, Egypt needs to defend its national security by all means and to respond strongly to this statement.

Coptic Orthodox Church in Aswan mourned the departure of a young priest who died affected by his Corona virus infection. Father Girgis Semen, priest of St. George in Lodid village, Edfo, died after 133 days of his ordination as priest.

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II held an online meeting yesterday with the priests of three pastoral sectors of Alexandria, namely: the West, East and Central sectors. During the meeting, General Bishops Elaryon, and Hermina of Alexandria delivered speeches before Pope Tawadros delivered a speech about the verse: For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. (2 Timothy 1:7)

Bihsop Lokas of Abnoub ordained two new monks at St. Mina monastery in Abnoub. The ordination ceremony of monks Poulos and Isaac was attended by Bishops Bemwas of Suez and Arsanious of New Valley.

The Coptic Orthodox Church decided on Saturday meeting of the Holy Synod, headed by Pope Tawadros II, to postpone the reopening of churches of Cairo and and Alexandria until mid-July due to high infection rates. It added that every archbishop will assess the health situation in their governroates with the Holy Communion at every diocese to decide on either delaying or reopening under strict health protocols, the statement said.

His Eminence Bishop Pfinutius of Samalout, opened a new building of medical isolation center dedicated to patients of COVID-19. The building provides all medical services for intermediate care, intensive care and artificial respiration, as well as a plasma separator and two dialysis machines for critical cases.

Bishop Bigoul, head of the monastery of St. Mary al-Muharraq decided to continue the closure of the monastery for 2 extra weeks, and will not receive any groups during that period. The decision came after the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church gave each bishop the authority to decide to reopen or continue to close due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

The media center of the Coptic Orthodox Church warned of a man who pretends to be a monk and collects donations. The man claims he is representative of St. Mina monastery in Mariout, Alexandria, but the monastery warns against such deceitful man.