The Coptic Catholic Church receives Cardinal Sandri Leonardo, head of the Vatican s Eastern Churches Complex, at a major celebration on Feb. 25, with the most important events including the laying of the foundation stone of a new church in Assiut, Upper Egypt. In a special statement, Archbishop Cyril of Assiut, pointed out that the Vatican Cardinal is attending the 800th anniversary of the meeting of St. Francis with Sultan Malik al-Kamil, which is organized by the Franciscan Order in Egypt.

Dr. André Zaki, head of the Evangelical community in Egypt, accompanied today delegation of the Egyptian-American dialogue with deputy of the Egyptian Parliament and a number of MPs at the Egyptian house of representatives. The American delegation includes the members of the Egyptian-American dialogue for the Dialogue of Cultures Forum in the Evangelical Organization, the Secretary General of the World Religions Parliament, a group of American church leaders and leaders of American civil society. Zaki said that The visit comes within the framework of the interrelationship between Egyptian and American leaders to reflect a true vision and a reality about the state of co-existence in Egyptian society, and an understanding of developments within American society.

Bishop Theophils of the Red Sea died yesterday at the age of 77 after suffering from severe illness. He was born on April 6, 1942, and graduated from the Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University in 1967. He was ordained a monk at the Syrian monastery and was called Father Ignatius on 5 October 1976.

Police in Esna returned today the disappeared Coptic girl Marnia Milad, 18 years old, to her family in Nawasir village, Esna, Luxor. The girl had disappeared last Thursday, and a young Muslim man was accused of being behind her disappearance. No further details were given about the incident.

4 students of Al-Azhar university have been arrested over charges of defamation of Christianity after publishing a video on YouTube ridiculing Christian believes and prayers. It is worth mentioning that 4 Coptic children had been sentenced to 5 years in prison after publishing a video ridiculing ISIS after slain of 21 Copts in Libya.

Copts in Menoufia demanded the reopen of Archangel Michael in Estanha Church that police had shut down 12 years ago. Bishop of Benha has bought the building to open as church and serve the families of Estanha village before 2007, but the church was shut down by police ever since.

For the first time, Pope Tawadros II visits Ismailia in a pastoral care visit to deliver his weekly sermon during his participation at the reopen ceremony of New Suez Canal. He will inaugurates the church of St. Paul in the Midtown area with the participation of Bishop Serfaim of Ismailia and a number of bishops and clergy before he returns to Cairo on Thursday.

Monks of St. Macarius of Alexandria monastery, in the valley of Al Rayyan in Fayoum, thanked His Holiness Pope Tawadros II for appointing Bishop Abraam of Fayoum as head and supervisor of the monastery. Bishop Abraam held a meeting with the monks and listened to their problems in order to solve them including the recognition of the monastery as a Coptic property.

For the third time, the Copts of the village of Koum Al-Rahab in the center of Samalut in Minya held a funeral on the streets after police shut down their church last December. Hundreds of worshippers held the rituals of the funeral since they have no place to pray after the closure of their only church.

The Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayeb and Pope Francis received the human brohterhood s award in Abu Dhabi from UAE Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The prize comes to honor international personalities and institutions who have made sincere efforts to bring people closer together.

Bishops Julius and Ermia, members of the Holy Synod, celebrated the Holy Liturgy at St. Anthony s Cathedral in Abu Dhabi . This came on the sidelines of their participation in the World Conference of Human Brothers from 3-4 February 2019, under the chairmanship of His Holiness Pope Francis, and the Grand Imam Dr. Ahmad Al-Tayeb.

Egyptian military court sentenced 8 people to death penalty after they tried to assassin Egyptian president Abdul Fattah al-Sisi and former Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Nayef. The defendants have committed more than 17 terrorist attacks in Egypt and planned to assassin the Egyptian and Saudi leaders during their visit to Mekkah.

The Criminal Court of Minya sentenced the Police man who murdered two Copts in Minya to death penalty and asked for Islamic permission to apply this ruling from the Mufti. Rabie Mostafa Khalifa was accused of murdering two Copts, a man and his son using machine gun and his crime was recorded on surveillance cameras.

The first session of trial of the policeman who assassinated 2 Copts in Minya will be held on February 2 in Minya Criminal Court. The crime was recorded on a surveillance cameras showing the defendant shooting the victims to kill.

Unidentified person on social networking sites published a picture of the kidnapped Coptic man in Arish. The picture shows Adib Yassa talking to a masked man wearing clothes of the Egyptian armed forces. Eye witnesses said that his identification papers showed his Christian identity and therefore he was kidnapped by elements of ISIS.

Hani Ramses, Coptic lawyer, said that meeting of the Supreme Committee to confront sectarian incidents is one right step towards solving the problem since it has summoned the governor of Minya to question him. He added that the governor was accused of giving false information about the closed churches and they hope that the Committee will order the reopening of the closed churches.

The government denied the shut down of 3 churches in Minya this month assuring the 3 claimed places have never applied to the committee to legalize churches according to the law assuring that freedom of worship is supported by the Egyptian constitution. It is worth mentioning that several churches have applied according to the law, but are still closed like churches of Qabbabat and Kafr Waslin in Atfih and five other churches in Esna, Luxor, as well as several churches in Suhag.

Coptic activist Isaac Ibrahim denounce today governmental denial of church existence in Zafrana village assuring it supports the extremists and their attacks on churches. Ibrahim said that Samalout diocese issued a statement yesterday showing that police have shut down 6 churches for more than 15 years, and called all dioceses to issue similar statements to show the closed churches and the real size of the problem.

Bishop Bemen of Qus had undergone an operation following a heart stroke. His health conditions have improved and he is expected to leave hospital in few days.

The deputy of the Monastery of the Virgin Mary the Muharraq in Assiut died today at the age of 75 years after a period of serious illness. His funeral will be held tomorrow at the Moharraq monastery and will be attended by a number of bishops and monks.

Police in Cairo are investigating a terrorist attack by explosives near the church of St. Mary and Abu Sifien in Nasr City, Cairo. An Egyptian explosives expert has been killed while he was attempting to defuse one of three bombs that were stored at a nearby mosque. Imam of the mosque has suspected the packages and reported the Police who moved quickly and sent the expert to defuse the bombs and he defused two of them before the third exploded and killed him.