The Coptic Orthodox Church has issued a statement concerning the murder at dawn today of Anba Epiphanius, Abbot of the Monastery of St Macarius in Wadi al-Natroun in Egypt s Western Desert. The Abbot had been discovered dead, lying in a pool of blood, having been hit on the head from behind with a sharp heavy object. Obviously, he was caught by his killer as he headed from his cell to church to attend Matins Praise that usually precedes Sunday Mass. The Church s statement, which described Anba Epiphanius as an honorable monk and scholar, declared that his death was shrouded in ambiguity, and thus the authorities concerned were notified. “Investigations are now ongoing,” the statement said, “and we await the outcome.

The former deputy commissioner of the NSW Police, Nick Kaldas, will conduct an audit into corruption risks in the state s planning system, following a string of high-profile scandals. Planning Minister Anthony Roberts has appointed Mr. Kaldas to scrutinise risks in the system and make recommendations in relation to the decision-making governance of state and local agencies.

Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria Tawadros II participated in a ceremony at the Egyptian Embassy in Austria on the occasion of the 66th anniversary of the revolution of July 23, 1952. The ceremony, held Thursday evening, was attended by more than 50 ambassadors and diplomats, beside 300 other attendees who warmly received the Pope.

The fifth International Conference of Coptic Studies, held at the St. Athanasius Seminary, headed by Abba Soriel, Bishop of Melbourne, was held on Sunday in the presence of the Bishop Martiros of Eastern Railway and Abba Ibifanious, head of St. Maccarius monastery. During the conference, an agreement was signed between the Seminary and the Theology University in Melbourne.

Major General Omar Abdel-Aal, Sohag Security Director, inspected today the security services assigned to the churches of Akhmim. This comes as police is taking extra security measures to secure the churches against any potential attacks.

An attack by a Muslim mob on Copts in a village in the Egyptian governorate of Minya on Monday (9 July) has left the Coptic community holed up in their houses, while security forces patrol the streets. A local source told World Watch Monitor the situation is still very tense in the village of Menbal, 225km south of Cairo, which was also home to Gaber Mounir Adly, one of the 21 men beheaded by Islamic State in Libya in 2015.

In the presence of 4 bishops, Abba Daniel, bishop of Sidney ordained two new priests.

Abba Martirus, Bishop of East Railways in Cairo, visits Australia next Tuesday for 4 days. Dung the visit, he will visit the monastery of Abba Shenouda and will sermonize at several churches including St. George Church in Kensington and St. Mary & St. Mina s Cathedral in Bexley and St. Mark church in Arncliffe and St. George & Prince Tadros church in Liverpool. The visit to Sidney will end on July 13 after which he is going to visit Melbourne.

The committee responsible for Sunday schools in Alexandria announced it is preparing for a big celebration on Wednesday, 25 July at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. The celebration will be attended by His Holiness Pope Tawadros II and is organized by Abba Pavly and Abba Ilarioun the general bishops in Alexandria.

The Coptic Orthodox Church is celebrating 1700 years on the establishment of the archaeological area in Mariout. The celebration started with the holy mass and a lecture about the importance of the historical area. Abba Pavly, general bishop of Alexandria said that the area should be used for promoting tourism in Egypt with all its ancient attractions.

His Grace Bishop Sorial Bishop of Melbourne ordained new deacons at the church of St. Paul in Diego.

Dr. Adel Mahmoud, an infectious-disease expert who played a vital role in the development of lifesaving vaccines, died on June 11 in Manhattan. He was 76. His death, at Mount Sinai St. Luke s Hospital, was caused by a brain hemorrhage, his wife, Dr. Sally Hodder, said. As president of Merck Vaccines from 1998 until 2006, Dr. Mahmoud oversaw the creation and marketing of several vaccines that brought major advances in public health. One prevents rotavirus infection, a potentially fatal cause of diarrhea in babies. Another protects against human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes cancers of the cervix, anus, genitals and middle of the throat.

Bishop Sorial of Melbourne laid the Foundation Stone of St. Mina Church in Fiji. The celebration was attended by the Minister of Health of Fiji Rozy Akbar and Bishop Youssef of the US.

The Coptic community celebrated on Wednesday the first Holy Mass in the Church of St. Ruiz in the presence of Abba Soriel, Bishop of Melbourne, and Abba Youssef, Bishop of the South of America. After the Holy Mass, the bishops opened a new clinic at Nadi District for the treatment of diabetes. The Coptic Church in Fiji is a Coptic center that provides services to Coptic tourists from Australia and New Zealand.

Abba Daniel, bishop of Sydney, laid the foundation stone of a services building at the Church of St. Abram and St. Michael Behairy in Sydney. The new building will carry the name of St. Mary and Joseph the Carpenter. The celebration was attended by several officials from the government of Sydney.

Abba Suriel, bishop of Melbourne, expressed his anger at the inverted cross put at the Hobart Winter Festival, which was held in the capital city of Tasmania, Australia. He called the authorities to remove the inverted Cross and to prevent such insults using religious symbols.

Police arrested a man who attacked several girls who were not wearing hijab.

St. George Church in Shobra held the celebration of the opening of St. Mark Evangelization Festival in 2018. The celebration was entitled ‘be prepared’ and was attended by the congregation of the church and its clergy. During the celebration, former winners of the festival for the previous year were honored.

Two new monks were ordained today at the monastery of Abu Fana in Minya. The new monks are Father Dawood and Salib. They were ordainedby bishops Demitrious, Aghabious, Kyrilious, Ermia, Markos and Ilarioun, members of the Holy Synod.

Abba Barnabas Bishop of Rome and Turin, and Abba Raphael, the General Bishop of the Churches of Central Cairo, celebrated the Feast of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost) at the Church of the Great Martyr St. George in Rome. They later attended a meeting on the celebration of the Friendship Day between the Coptic Orthodox and Catholic Churches which was attended by representatives from the Egyptian embassy and the Vatican.

Another Coptic woman has disappeared in Shobra neighborhood in Cairo. Surveillance cameras of nearby shop showed several people kidnapping her and the matter is under investigation.