For 9 years, the church of the Saints Mark the Apostle and Pope Boutros in Sidi Bishr neighborhood of Alexandria celebrated the martyrdom of its martyrs who were martyred on the evening of New Year s Eve ten years ago as a result of the terrorist bombing attack. However, this year the celebration was canceled due to the spread of Corona virus. Only families of the martyrs will be allowed to attend the Divine Liturgy held to celebrate the annual anniversary at St. Mina monastery in King Mariout on December 31. The attack on the church has shocked the people all over the world who saw the attack, and therefore, many people called to change the name of the street in which the church is located to bear the name of the martyrs. This call that was approved by the local administrative council and raised to the governor, who just ignored the decision. I think it is not yet too late to change the name of the street on their tenth anniversary. I hope he does in order to honor those martyrs and condolence their families.

I agree with our great writer and dear friend Hamdi Rizk in his writing about The Case of Karm Lady in his article “Appeal shows justice for the grieving!” The writer is always concerned with the call to activate all the mechanisms of achieving full citizenship in Egypt that taught the world how to respect human being and creativity. Yes, there is no comment on the judgment of the judiciary, but we need to appreciate that the Attorney General, Counselor Hamada Al-Sawy, commissioned the technical office in his office to study the appeal of the judgment of innocence of the accused in the case known as the Lady of Karm village , as soon as the criminal court that issued the ruling deposited its reasons. Here, the appeal is presented by the people s lawyer to save what can be saved of the woman s dignity, escpially after the shocking verdict to acquit all defendants in the case that the president had apologized for it promising to punish all perpetrators. However, I wonder who is responsible for such shameful verdict. Is it a mistake of a weak lawyer against a good lawyer of the defendants? Is it the absence of justice and lack of interference of the officials to save rights of the weak woman? Moreover, why did the president apologized for the old woman if nothing bad happened to her? Did he receive misleading information? In fact, the president is working hard to treat Christians equal in Egypt, which appeared in restoration and construction of churches and the issuance of laws for their construction for the first time in centuries. He paid several visits to the cathedral to congratulate Copts in their feasts. He called to renew the cultural and religious discourse. Finally, I agree with the writer at the conclusion of his article when he indicated that the merits will be in the hands of the defense of Mrs. Suad within thirty days, and I hope she will receive justice finally.

My memories with Coptsunited will never end and will always stay in my heart. I had the honor to be part of this family since it started. I had the honor to be part of this success, I had the honor to meet great people through this website and in the top of this list are Eng, Adly Abadeer, Eng, Ezzat Bolous and more which I cant type all of them to not forget one of them. Coptsunited was never a place to work but a message to deliver, there were many upsides and downsides during the road but the determination, the love and the belief from Mr Adly Abadder in this message never ended.

The call of the Lord Jesus from the beginning of his ministry on earth is for us to repent and return to God. Thus, He calls us in Mark 1: 15 saying: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Shall we respond to this call while we are on the threshold of a new year? His Holiness Pope Tawadros II in his article“ The Time of Departure ”made it clear to us that what happened during the year 2020 of the spread of the Corona pandemic and the departure and the injury of millions of people is a warning bell for the sinners who lost their good relationship with God and follow all kinds of wrong gods including: money, science, technology and freedom. This led to more and more sins and deviation. God used the pandemic and its terrible spread to call the people to repent and return to Him. Therefore, His Holiness Pope Tawadros urges us in his article to wake up, repent, return and prepare for eternity, for with the passing of a year with all the painful memories that it brought us and with the advent of a new year in which we feel hope, especially with the production of vaccines against the virus in several countries after exhausting research, we find that we need to Spiritual remedies in addition to preventive treatments, among which prayers in the name of Christ, for Christ came to heal our diseases and he who said, “The healthy do not need a doctor, but the sick.” In the name of the Lord Jesus, healing miracles are performed by the hands of the apostles and saints, spiritual means such as prayer with faith, and anointing with oil in the unction of the sick and the use of holy water in the prayers because a source of expelling diseases and evil spirits. Let s repent before this year comes to an end and remember the words of St. Paul to the Corinthians: Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

The Egyptian research team from Benha and Kafr El Sheikh universities, headed by Dr. Ahmed El-Jazzar, professor of chest diseases and former dean of the Benha Medical College, won first place in a research seminar conducted by the University of Liverpool, with the participation of scientists from America, France, India, Pakistan, Iraq, Bangladesh and Australia about the effectiveness of Ivermectin for treating Corona virus. Dr. Ahmed Al-Jazzar indicated that Ivermectin was originally a veterinary treatment against worms in animals in 1980, and in 1984 it was used to treat parasites, scabies and hair lice in humans, and on March 14, the World Health Organization agreed to use it to treat Corona. After the experiments on animals, the Egyptian research team led by Dr. Ahmed El-Gazzar registered the research in the Ethics Committee for Scientific Research, and on June 8, clinical trials began on simple, medium and severe Corona patients, and the drug s effectiveness in treating them was proven by 99% in mild and moderate cases and 96% in late cases. The research was published in Nature International magazine on November 16th. The doctor emphasized that as soon as the research was raised, positive international reactions continued to assure its importance, as the University of Liverpool in Britain was invited to discuss the eight scientific researches around the world in this field, and this evaluation was held by the University of Liverpool, which decided to give the Egyptian research the first place. Greetings to Dr. Ahmed Al-Jazzar, his assistant team, and to everyone who contributed to finding this treatment, provided that it will be available for everyone.

Those who refuse normalizing relations with Israel take it from a narrow ideological standpoint and raise humanitarian slogans as a cover for their narrow racist ideologies. Their slogans of humanity and political pragmatism, but their words assure such normalization agreement was given for free by the Arab countries. They say this because they see normalization from an ideological, Arab nationalist perspective and not from a local national perspective. They evaluate matters according to a fictitious Arab interest and not from a humanitarian, national, or political, pragmatic perspective. So is the Moroccan, Gulf and Sudanese normalization with Israel really came for free? We will answer this question by identifying what these countries have obtained immediately including economic, scientific, technological and cultural benefits. Morocco obtained America s recognition of its sovereignty over the Western Sahara, which is a precious and valuable recognition that strengthens Morocco s position before the international institutions in that account. This recognition also represents a slap in the face of the Algerian regime, which supports the Polisario Front in the face of the Moroccan regime. The United States removed Sudan from the list of states supporting terrorism. This means Sudan s return to cooperation with international economic institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, especially with the deterioration of the Sudanese economic situation. The Gulf countries found a strong ally against Qatar, Turkey and Iran (the axis of the Muslim Brotherhood). Perhaps Trump s approval to supply the advanced F-35 aircraft to the UAE at a time when future purchases were banned by the United States to Turkey. It is clear that it is not a free normalization!

Yesterday, the Church of St. Damiana in Wardian in Alexandria lost a man called Ramses Poulos. He was not a victim of the Corona epidemic, but a martyr of hatred. In fact, he was slaughtered in broad daylight and on the roadside in front of his neighbors. I knew this man when I was appointed to serve in his church in the nineties. Therefore, I was surprised at the killing of Ramses and the attempt to kill his brothers at their shop and because of their religious identity, as part of a repeated collective assault on Copts because their are weak and different. His life had been condensed by the killers and his blood was shed for reasons that there is no room here to discuss. We should resort to the authorities that quickly grant licenses for the madmen in order to advise them not to specialize only and exclusively in targeting the Coptic citizens, because they have turned the right and left cheek!

Qatar for a long time and almost since year 2000 tries to support what its called new middle east movements for Democracy, although the real support was for the religious group in especially in Egypt, Libya and Syria. Lately, there is news that Qatar and the gulf countries along with Egypt started new negotiations round trying to reestablish their relationship with Qatar. The Emirate and Egypt confirmed that there was a negotiation and they are trying to reach an agreement.

The decision of the Coptic Orthodox Church to suspend all its services and holy message in Alexandria and Cairo was indeed hard and important at the same time. This is the second time to take this decision in the year 2020 and it comes to prevent the spread of covid-19 and to save as many lives as possible. 5 priests have already died this month to raise the total number of priests killed by the new Coronavirus to 30 since the start of the pandemic. I think the decision is very wise though it was very hard to be taken during the holy month of Koiak when the Coptic people are used to spend hours in the church to attend prayers and praises. Yet, it should save many lives before it s too late.

Despite his handicap that prevents him from moving and working properly, he works hard on the hand-loom to make handmade carpets that reflects his talent and effort. Mahmoud Islam is a 20-year-old who was born with brain paralysis that affected the nerves of his hands and legs as well as his tongue. However, you barely feel such handicap when he starts working on his hand-loom for many hours each day. Once, Mahmoud received a piece of advice to find a job and life. Soon, he found hope and profession. It was not easy in the beginning, but now he knows the way. Mahmoud had also worked very hard to get educated and obtain a diploma in industrial development. Now, he announced that he will teach women in his village how to work on the hand-loom as well.

In our lives, there are many lessons to learn in order to have a good relationship with the other based on love and fear of God. His Holiness Pope Tawadros II in his article "Sweet-Spoken words” published in the Evangelism Magazine, talked about some pieces of advice including that money is a good servant, but a very bad master. It should be a method and not a goal. Happiness is to find love and be loved without condition. Change is important as I grow old and wiser. Those who seek other people’s satisfaction can’t feel happy. Avoid getting angry, even if you have right. Your anger is a wrong method to express what is right. Losing confidence in yourself or in the others is one big gate to lose happiness. Losing confidence is harder than losing friends. My father is the best friend I have ever had. Ones beauty lies in his tongue. It’s not what you say, it’s when. Some words are like fragrance or stones, be careful what you through on the others. If you don’t build your future, some one will hire you to build his. Friends are like warm rooms in cold winter. A good friend takes our bitterness away. God is above all. God hears the lowest voice in your heart. Let’s learn from such words in our lives.

The thought of enlightenment was considered to counter the rigidity of the fundamentalist vision and this hostile trend for human peace, equality, coexistence and national unity. Defendants of enlightenment in the Arab countries adopted the Western methods and called for complete equality, relativism and pluralism in visions, perceptions and beliefs. Accordingly, the Arab Enlightenment people relied on the concepts of the West and its political and social systems based on equality, openness to others, and the aspiration for national unity and nationalism, and contributed to spreading it on secular foundations. For example, Al-Tahtawi wrote in his book about Paris that its people are predominantly cheerful in the faces of strangers, and treat them well, even if they belong to different religion. They accept such difference and never mind building houses of worship for other religions. Concerning enlightenment, the "Sunday Schools" Coptic magazine received an important and wonderful message from the Dean of Arabic Literature, Dr. Taha Hussein, calling on the religious establishment to correct and reform some matters, so the magazine publishes it comfortably. In his message, he called to give greater concern to the preparation of Coptic clergy and calls for equality among Muslims and Christians in both rights and duties.

It seems that women are not welcomed in Kuwaits Parliament after the election resulted in no success for any woman to be represented in the parliament. Arab countries failed once again to represent all sectors of society in the parliament which opened the possibility for thinking about different ways to have women in most if not all sectors in the country.

he lost his two hands in middle school, when a land mine exploded in him from the remnants of the World War, more than 40 years ago. Yet, the artist Talaat Nabih was able to write his name in history of art after he was able to prove his talent as great artist who paints with his mouth. Six months after the incident, Talaat , who is now 51 years old, decided to hold a pen with his teeth and mouth, entered the preparatory and general secondary examinations and the Faculty of Social Service, and excelled in drawing paintings with his teeth, and participated in many competitions, the first of which was a competition in the Youth and Sports Directorate, where he painted a painting about Jerusalem, and won the first place. Soon, he learned to write and draw with his elbow, and excelled in several Arabic hand writing including the Kufic and Diwani script, and was appointed at the Social Solidarity Directorate in Beni Suef to be an employee who writes official documents with his teeth! Greetings to Talat, his family, to everyone who supported him to overcome his obstacles and achieve success.

She is a model that amuses her followers by publishing her photos on Facebook. She decided to have one of her photo sessions in the area of Saqqara, next to the pyramid of Djoser in Giza. She put on Pharaonic clothes and appeared so sexy. Publishing her photos made huge reacts between supporters and opponents who decided to defend the sanctity of the historical archaeological areas! Senior officials opened investigation in the account and called to hold the responsible accountable! I think that we exaggerated the matter and it doesn t deserve such noise. Yes, she is beautiful and sexy, but all women can be so if they find the key to their beauty. I remember here the prince of poets "Ahmed Shawky" who said all women pretty or even sexy, but this doesn t mean they should be punished for being so!

Social media proves its power day after another, just like retardation and fanaticism is deeply rooted in the minds of many Egyptian officials. A girl called Salma al-Shimi made a photo session at the ancient Saqqara area wearing Pharaonic clothes, which are the clothes of the ancient Pharaonic woman, Facebook turned from hardliners and Salafists to a major attack on the girl s clothes, to make officials open investigation in the case! She published the photos on her Facebook account before Dr. Mohamed Youssef Ouyan, Director of the Saqqara Archaeological Zone, opened investigation describing the filming as against Egyptian customs and traditions! Did the pharaonic clothes become contrary to customs and traditions? is photographing in an antique area with Pharaonic clothes a crime? and what about the Pharaonic drawings of Pharaonic women that are painted on the wall of temples and museums and show the same dress of women? Are we controlled by the Salafist ideology that despises women and considers them genitalia!

The assassination of the Iranina nuclear Scientist “Mohsen Fakhrizadeh” proves that there is no moral in politics. Iran, lately suffers from big losses since American killed general “ Qasem Solimani”. Unfortunately, the world has a double standard when it comes to developing nuclear weapons, we see Pakistan and North Korea for example own nuclear weapons while Iran is always deprived of this right.

Many factors play a fundamental role in the success of spiritual struggle and making it on the right path. We can contemplate it from the book of Joshua, chapter six, as Joshua was able to enter Jericho, the first city in the Promised Land, and triumph over the evil inherent in it. HG Bishop Pachomius, former acting Patriarch and Archbishop of Behirah, Matrouh and North Africa, in his article "The walls of Jericho and the spiritual struggle" explained to us several factors that help us in our spiritual struggle, first: to work hard, for the Lord commanded Joshua that the priests carry the Ark of the Covenant and circulate with the people around the city for six days, and the number six in the Bible symbolizes the perfection of life and the six days refer to our whole life, this life that needs hard working in order to triumph over evil just as Joshua triumphed over Jericho (which symbolizes evil) and without struggle we cannot be victorious. Secondly: Belief is in God s powerful hand. Jericho needed the help of God along with the hard work. So the Lord commanded Joshua that the people turn around the wall seven times, then they shouted, and with the power of the Lord the city walls have fallen. Third: Repentance and return to God. Jericho, with its king and its inhabitants, was a symbol of the sins and weaknesses that dominate human life, so we need to repent and return to God who helps us and gives us victory over the weaknesses facing our lives. Fourth: Continuing the spiritual struggle, the people marched around the walls once every day for six days with the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant, and this indicates the seriousness of strife, continuation and lack of spiritual relaxation that God warns against in the Holy Bible. Fifth: Self-control, a person must control himself, as St. Paul said "I suppress my body and enslave him". Our seriousness in spiritual struggle must suppress the body and its desires. Strive and do not despair, whatever your weaknesses and sins are, trust that God helps and gives you victory over the battles of Satan, with seriousness, repentance, continuity, and faith in God s help, inevitably you will succeed in your spiritual struggle.

Luke the physician, one of the seventy apostles, was a famous physician in Antioch and wrote the bible named after him. It is considered the third gospel and is known for being very rich in details. St. Luke was concerned with the history of the origin and growth of the Church with all its worship and traditions, and his Bible also mentioned the historical sequence of the revelation of the kingdom of God, and expressed the work of God with man. It talks about Jesus Christ and the salvation in a wonderful way. Likewise, his gospel has become a major reference in theology, history and apostolic tradition. He is called: the teacher, the physician, the painter, bearer of enlightened light, third evangelist, full of apostolic zeal, the virgin and martyr. He wrote his gospel in order to complete his mission and spread the correct evangelistic knowledge, and declared what was necessary to be revealed by the impetus of the Holy Spirit. Likewise, his writing of the Acts of the Apostles replete with Christian wisdom and correct teaching about the Holy Spirit. His gospel was called "the gospel of divine friendship" as it was called (the Ecumenical Gospel) as it represents the call of all humanity to the Savior and Friend of man. Some theological historians saw that St. Luke the Evangelist presented a history of salvation and promise, and that the plan of the Trinity would not be announced. His writing of the Book of Acts also complemented the Gospel. He revealed in his Gospel the depth of the work of salvation in the service of Christ, and revealed in the Book of Acts how the Church held on to the power of salvation from the hand of the Lord and took its power from the Holy Spirit. Luke the Evangelist, the first Christian historian, wrote a spiritually inspiring story about the emergence of the Church, which carried the strength and grandeur of the Christian beginning, and the cornerstone linking the books of the New Testament, "the Gospels and Acts", was characterized by meticulous examination of wounds that did not go beyond his observed eye as a physician and as a historian. . He had a strong friendship with Saint Paul, whom called him “the beloved physician” (Colossians 14: 4), as he called him to work with him. He was famous for his art as a painter, and the icon he painted for the Virgin, the Queen, the bearer of the Lord God, is his mark In Christian Iconography. He was martyred at the age of eighty-four, may his blessings be with us all, Amen.

The Egyptian short fictional film “Sixteen” has made several achievements for Egypt, which also bears the name “I am afraid to forget your face”. It has won the top prize at the Best Short Film at the Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first Egyptian film to win the coveted award. It also did the same three weeks ago at the Moscow Festival, and seized the best film and became eligible on April 25. Next to strongly nominate the Oscar for Best Foreign Short Film, to put Egypt for the first time also on the Oscars map, after twenty-five participation over the course of nearly sixty years, we did not even get a mention. The names of our films were repeated a lot in the festival without a real coronation, even the Youssef Shahine Award in 1997 was in the festival s golden jubilee, and was reaped for the entirety of his work on the occasion of the festival s fifties.