For the first time St. Dimiana Monastery held its annual celebrations on the occasion of St. Demiana feast without congregation. The celebration was headed by HG Bishop Marcos of Damietta, Kafr El-Sheikh and the head of the monastery on the eve of the feast, with the participation of some of the priests of the diocese and nuns of the monastery. Thousands of Copts used to attend the celebrations, but they were unable to attend the feast this year due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Father Ruice Markos, preist of St. Mary Church in Ghobrial, Alexandria, said that surveillance cameras of the church filmed a terrorist who threw a Molotov Cocktail at the church. The attack caused no harm for people or the building. Police have arrested the man and he is currently under investigation.

Pope Tawadros II presided over the funeral of Abba Ruice, the general Bishop who died today at the age of 81 after spending 57 years as monk and 43 years as bishop. The funeral was attended by many bishops, members of the Holy Synod. He was born on October 15, 1939, and was ordained a monk in the Syriac monastery in Wadi Al-Natroun on October 30, 1963. He was ordained a general bishop on May 29, 1977.

On the occasion of the celebration of the International Nursing Day, Pope Tawadros II congratulated all nursing staff fighting the battle of Coroa virus in Egypt and all over the world. He added that their sacrifice is well appreciated by everyone and wished them success in their great role.

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church, received yesterday Ramez Atallah, director of the Bible House in Egypt, at the papal headquarters in Cairo. The spokesperson of the Coptic Orthodox Church said that the director of the Bible House congratulated the Pope on the Resurrection feasts and presented to his Holiness the activities currently being carried out in Egypt by the House.

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, received today at the papal headquarters in Cairo Chancellor Saeed Mari Amr, President of the Supreme Constitutional Court. Amr was accompanied by his deputies, Counselor Paul Fahmy Iskandar, Counselor Dr. Hamdan Fahmy Abu Shaheen, Counselor Dr. Muhammad Imad Al-Naja, Counselor Dr. Abdel Aziz Salman, Counselor Dr. Tariq Abdul Jawad Shebl, Counselor Tariq Abdel Alim Abu Al Ati, and Counselor Tamer Raymond. According to the spokesperson for the Coptic Orthodox Church, the visit came to congratulate the Church on the feasts.

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, received today, Dr. Nevin Kabbaj, Minister of Social Solidarity, at the papal headquarters in Cairo to discuss measures to help poor girls get married. During the meeting, a cooperation protocol was signed between the Coptic Orthodox Church and Nasser Social Bank to open bank accounts and raise fund to support poor girls, and called the project ‘The Daughter of the King’ . To donate to project, Commercial International Bank .C.I.B. Account number: Egyptian 100035771907 USD 100035771926

The Coptic Orthodox Church decided to enable St. Mark s Festival and Church 1000 Ministers training Project online after the churches have been closed and all activities were suspended due to the spread of Corona virus. St. Mark s Festival (Mahragan El-Keraza) is an opportunity for Coptic Orthodox churches to unite with one another practice spiritual activities.

The Egyptian Coptic Church mourned the martyrs of the Egyptian armed forces who were martyred yesterday after an explosive device exploded in an armored vehicle, south of the city of Bir al-Abd, in Sinai. The Church said their sacrifices are well appreciated after they were killed to defend the homeland, and prayed for reposing their souls and offered sincere condolences to their families. Statement issued by the church added we pray that the Lord preserves our dear homeland from all evil and that he may be blessed with peace and safety.

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, said the decision to close churches was not an easy one, but it had to be taken in order to save the people. He added during his interview with TEN satellite channel that it was even more difficult to take that decision during the Great Lent and the Holy Week, which is the holiest day of the year for Coptic Christians.

St. Mark Church in Frankfort, Germany, mourned the departure of its priest Father Bigoul Basili who departed yesterday. Father Bigoul is brother of Bihsop Dermiterious of Mallawy, Ansna and Ashmounin, and his death comes 5 month after his sister Tasoni Angil, wife of the late father Bishoy Kamel, has departed.

The Church of St. Athanasius the Apostle in Siouf, Alexandria, received a sterilization booth presented by the Industrial Service Complex at the Arab Academy for Science and Technology, to be recorded as the first church to use such technology for its congregation. The church leaders have offered their thanks to Dr. Ismail Faraj, President of the Arab Academy for this gift.

After a Coptic priest was tested positive for the Corona virus, Coptic activist Isaac Ibrahim, researcher at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, praised the decision to shut down places of worship. He said that such infection may spread the virus among the congregation if the church is open, which may infect thousands of worshippers.

Father Poulos Halim, spokesman for the Coptic Orthodox Church, denied rumors about reopening churches to perform the evening prayer, stressing that the Holy Synod has not issued such decision. It is worth noting that the Coptic Orthodox Church had previously agreed on a set of precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the emerging corona virus, including the closure of churches and monasteries and suspended all church actives

father Dawood Lamey offers the spiritual conference entitled (Oneness), which was prepared for Sydney and Melbourne s dioceses. The conference will be held for 10 days. The sermons will be valid on the official page of Father Dawood

His Eminence Bishop Arsani of the Netherlands headed the Resurrection feast celebrations of the Coptic Church in the Netherlands with the minimal number of participants due to the outbreak of the Corona virus. In his speech, Bishop Arsani congratulated the Coptic people and the Egyptian officials on the feast, and assured that the Day of Resurrection is the greatest Christian feast, which completed the redemption process.

Bishop Pfinutius of Samalout celebrated Maundy Thursday alone at the Cathedral of the Savior of the World in order to limit the spread of the emerging Corona virus . This comes as the Holy Synod has decided to shut down all churches and all activities were cancelled until further notice.

Under the title Aftounf, which is a Coptic word of Resurrection, Pope Tawadros II holds an open meeting with Coptic Youth from Egypt and abroad. Those who want to participate in the meeting were asked to send a 30 seconds video in which they present themselves and pose a question to the Pope. The video should be sent on the inbox of the Coptic Orthodox Church Media Center page, no later than April 16.

As the Coptic Churches are closed due to the Corona virus, Copts decided to celebrate the Holy Week in their own way by opening churches in their homes. Many Copts dedicated a special cornier in their homes for prayers and followed them on TV as they are not allowed to be in the church in the most holy week of the year.

The Coptic Studies Center of Alexandria Library announced the continuation of his activities during the month of April through an online lecture on St. Corona, the Patron Saint of Epidemics and Infectious Diseases. The lecture will be given by Dr. Ezzat Salib, a Coptic heritage expert at the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, at 8:00 pm next Wednesday, April 17 on the Facebook page of Alexandria Library.

Coptic Orthodox Church announced that His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, will preside over the prayers of the Holy Week and the glorious Easter Resurrection Mass at the Monastery of St. Bishoy in Wadi El Natroun. This comes amidst closure of the churches to prevent the spread of the emerging Corona virus.