The Coptic Orthodox Church announced that His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, has visited the Monastery of Anba Bishai in Sohag as part of his pastoral care visit to the diocese. Pope was received by monks and leaders of the monastery and a number of the congregation of nearby villages.

Pope Francis issued today a decision to appoint the first woman to a high position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to Reuters, the Italian Francesca de Giovanni, 66, will take over the position of relations with countries in the Vatican Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and she will be appointed to the rank of Deputy Minister, to become among the 2 deputy foreign ministers. It is worth noting that the Catholic Church only allowed men to take high positions while women were usually restricted to administrative tasks that are not visible.

The Monastery of St. Ferena in Sydney received Bishop Tadros of Port Said who is assigned by Pope Tawadros as papal deputy. He discussed their spiritual needs and problems in order to find solutions and report them to the Pope. Bishop Tadros celebrated the Holy Mass with the nuns and a number of visitors of the Coptic monastery.

Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, presided over the ritual of the inauguration of the new alters of the Virgin and St. Abraam in the Diocese of Sohag. This came during his pastoral care visit to the governorate accompanied by many members of the Holy Synod of the coptic Orthodox Church.

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, announced the issuance of the Priests Orchard Book, which collects words and stories of many pious Coptic priests. He praised the book assuring it is an addition to the Coptic library and presents many role models among the priests. This came during his meeting with priests of Suhag during his pastoral care visit to the governorate.

Bishop Angelos of Northern Shubra Churches inaugurated the holy vessels of the Church of the Virgin Mary and the Martyr Demiana in Baba Dablo. This came during celebrating the Holy Mass in the church in the presence of its clergy and congregation.

A number of visitor and security personnel assured they witnessed a spiritual appearances of Saint Anba Makar in his monastery in Wadil Natroun. A committee of 7 monks had investigated the matter and assured the appearances are true. A number of monks said that the saint used to appear in his monastery though it was not declared.

Coptic Orthodox Church announced that Bishop Tadrus of Port Said arrived in Australia in a pastoral visit, which was scheduled after Coptic Christmas on January 7th. Pope Tawadros has appointed Bishop Tadrus as papal deputy to supervise the Sydney Diocese and prepare a report for the Pope on the situation in the diocese after the resignation of its former bishop.

Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, starts a pastoral care visit to Sohag governorate next Saturday. The visit continues from 11 to 16 January during which the Pope will visit all dioceses of the governorate of Sohag, which includes Tahta, Tama, and Sohag.

Coptic Orthodox Church announced that His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, will preside over Christmas Mass at the Nativity of Christ Cathedral in the new administrative capital. The Holy mass will be attended by the Egyptian president and senior Egyptian officials. It is worth mentioning that the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ is the largest in the Middle East.

Sources in the Coptic Orthodox Church told Copts United that Bishop Tadros of Port Said and the Pontifical Vicar of the Sydney diocese will go to Sydney to supervise the services of the Sydney diocese. Bishop Tadros will inspect the problems of the diocese and will prepare a report to HH Pope Tawadros II upon returning to Cairo.

Egyptian writer Khaled Montaser commented on the harassment incident in Mansoura city on Christmas eve saying that extremists sheikhs justify simlar attacks and only blame the girl. Monaser published a video on his Facebook account showing Sheikh Mohamed Metwally Al-Shaarawi at one of his old sermons saying that woman s makeup is insistence of her to attract man. He also quoted another sheikh who said that wearing sexy cloths provokes his manhood! He added that most of the harasses are conducted by people who claim to be religious and their Facebook pages are full of sermons!

Archbishop Abraam of Fayoum ordained 96 new deacons at the basic rank of Ebsaluts and promoted 63 new deacons during the New Year’s Mass. The ordination ceremony was held at St. George Church in Fayoum.

The Coptic Orthodox Church announced that His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, will lead the New Year s Eve prayers and celebrations at the Cathedral of St. Mark in Alexandria. Pope will also celebrate the Holy Mass at the church in the presence of Bishops Illarion and Hermina of Alexandria.

Ambassador Juma Mubarak Al Junaibi, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates in Egypt, visited the Cathedral of St. Mark in Cairo accompanied by a diplomatic delegation to congratulate His Holiness Pope Tawadros II on New Year’s and Christmas. In a related context, the Church has announced that Pope Tawadros II will preside over the Christmas Mass on January 6, 2020 in the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ in the new administrative capital.

The Russian Orthodox Church has decided to cut ties with Patriarch Theodore II, head of the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate in Alexandria, following his decision to recognize Ukraine s new independent Orthodox Church. The Russian church s Holy Synod ruled late Thursday to rupture all links with Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria and All Africa. It noted, however, that it will remain in communion with those clerics of his church who didn t support the decision. Father Poulos Halim, spokesman of the Coptic Orthodox Church, said that there is a good relations between the Coptic and Russian churches and that the similar names of Pope Tawadros II and Patriarch Theodore II confused people to think the problem is with the Coptic church, which is not true.

Bishop Makarious of Minya opened the Church of St. Moses the Black that was destroyed by supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood after the dispersal of Rabaa Adawia and Nahda sit-ins. The church is the last one to be restored of 84 churches that were restored by the Egyptian armed forces. Bishop of Minya offered his thanks to president Abdul Fattah al-Sisi and the Army for their role in restoring the church that was completely destroyed.

The Coptic Orthodox Churches celebrated today the feast of Pope Mark VIII’s departure. The Pope was born in Tima and called John before he longed for monastic life and joined the Monastery of St. Antony. He was ordained Pope in the year 1796.

Coptic Orthodox Church in Suez sent a delegation to visit several Catholic churches in order to congratulate them on Christmas. The delegation visited the Church of the Good Shepherd, and the Latin Church of the Franciscan Fathers that celebrate Christmas according to the Western calendar.

Bishop Thomas of the Parish of Qusia and Mir inaugurated today the Church of the Archangel Raphael in Qusia. The new icon holder (Iconstasis) and icons were inaugurated in the new church that was expanded from 100 to 1000 meters and was opened in a great festival.

Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, appointed Father Hanna Gad, priest of the Church of the Martyr Demiana and Saint Athanasius the Apostle as acting Under-Secretary-General of the Archdiocese of Sydney. According to Al-Dustour newspaper, the Egyptian Orthodox Church sent a message of thanks to Father Tadros Samaan, General Secretary of the Diocese of Sydney, and Father Rafael Iskander, New South Wales state agent, for their efforts and service over the decades in the diocese.