An initiative to empower women was launched by the Ministry of Environment to clean and plant rooftop within the framework of the governorate s sustainable development plan. 400 job opportunities were enabled as women were trained to recycle and plant rooftops in cooperation with “Plant a tree organization along with the celebration of International Women s Day. One of the participants described the initiative as a source of hope for single mothers who represent 30% of Egyptian families. The initiative came to empower women and save the environment. The project aims to achieve the sustainable development goals of Egypt 2030, as it achieves the economic, social and environmental dimensions. The participants receive also free support, seeds and training. Greetings to Dr. Yasmine Fouad and all those working with her, with my best wishes.

I lived my life without fearing death. However, I had to face it several times in war and in surgeries. Yet, I suffer these days when I see the poor dying because of the floods. They had to live in very bad conditions and nobody cared for them till they died. Hearing discussions of people thinking that religion is against science make me feel sick. They think that Niqab provides protection against Coronavirus and some of them see taking communion as a matter of faith. I pray that minds don’t get lost in that account. Being positive and help other people is crucial, especially in hard circumstances, but people criticized Bishop Makarious of Minya for getting on the streets and help the poor after the floods. They said he shouldn’t appear helping others and accused him of making a show. Yet, he was not the one who took the photos for social media. Their hatred for the man made him attack even the good things that he does! I see this as death of their conscience. Such death appeared clearly with the pharmacists who raised the price of sanitizers and masks without realizing that the epidemic will affect them and death will prolong them and their money as well. Welcome death that will take me away from the so called living, but dead by reason and conscience.

The life will inevitably come to an end and everyone will stand before God the just Judge on the last day. The Church reminds us of this throughout the year in the daily prayers to make us ready to meet the Lord. His Eminence Bishop Bakhoumius of Beheira, Matrouh and North Africa said in his article Fasting and Preparing for Heaven talked about how to prepare to meet God on the last day, explaining that repentance is the only way to get prepared for that day. Such repentance can be achieved by fasting and praying. The Great Lent is a season for repentance and worship asking for mercy. The Agbeya is another set of messages to repent each day showing us that we are weak and to remind us that life will eventually come to an end. Therefore, fasting supports our spiritual struggle in life and spiritual readings lead us in the way. We should have hope in God’s mercy and ask for saint’s intercessions to support us in life. It is time to seek repentance in order to have a joyful meeting with God.

While coronavirus is spreading like an enemy everywhere, its time for all people to show their love and sympathy with others who are infected or scared to get this fatal virus. The life taught us to learn from our mistakes and to not repeat them especially the tough one, sometimes disasters comes to review ourselves and our priorities we are taking in this life.

It is a shameful for people in authority not to listen to voices of the weak and the oppressed! Despite all humanitarian appeals to end the oppression of Gerges Barumi, no action was taken to save him. It is shame also for the law and the judicial system. I call the law makers to do their best to save the man. There should be no differentiation between people based on their religion since they are supposed to achieve justice to all people. Those responsible for the presidential amnesty committee and members of human rights committees should move to achieve justice for that young man since this is the reason you are taking your offices. May God save this man and achieve justice for him since He is the just judge for the oppressed.

If we look at the history of Christianity, we would see lots of blood due to many persecutions against the church and its members since its very beginning. The first persecution that came on the church was after Christ ascension to heave. Soon, Shapur Kisra the Persian who waged a fierce war for forty years against Christianity from 335 to 375 in which a large number of Christians were killed, estimated at 180,000 people. There is the persecution launched by the Jewish king Nawas in the year 523 on the Christians in the Najran region, in which more than 50 thousand people were killed. The persecution didn’t stop since the first centuries to this day including the massacres against Syriac, Armenians, Chaldeans, and Assyrians in 1915 by the Ottoman Empire. Such suffering is continuing in various forms, but Jesus had warned his disciples saying: They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. (John 16: 2) There are many reason for such enmity against Christians including their faith that contradicts with Islam that Christ is God. Second, Historic and political reasons that led to Crusades, the Inquisition and other persecutions in the Islamic regions to this day. Third, The social reason: If we look at society, we find that Islamic societies are different from Christian societies in scientific, cultural, social moral and civilizational issues. Thus, religion is used to discriminate against citizens and to get political benefits for certain groups in the society.

Media is the mirror of any society and it is the voice of the people. It is a powerful engine of public opinion, especially in a community with a great deal of illiterates. It can support or destroy the image of the society. Thus, such media can be domesticated to serve the officials and ignore many topics that people are interested to know. In that case, the agenda keeps concentrating on the interests of the regime and the government turning the trivial issues into public opinion. For instance, the cases of kidnapping minor Coptic girls are simply gored for years under the Wahabi extremist culture. Many of them decided by their free will to do so, but many were forced to. Recently, several organizations appeared to work in that field, including a woman who claimed to be secretary of Pope Tawadros to convince young Coptic girls to trust her and follow her to the unknown. Ignoring such cases for any reason like it doesn’t concern the majority is very shameful for the media. Such ignorance gives a chance to such gangs to continue doing their evil job in peace. I appeal to the honorable people of this country, from the media and the legal men, to confront this diabolical phenomenon and open investigations in all governorates of Egypt in order to put an end to this escalating phenomenon.

Far from this ongoing conflict in Syria between the forces of the Syrian regime on one side and the terrorist militias and their successor Erdogan on the other, It is clear that the new Corona virus has decided to spread in some countries like China, Iran, South Korea, Italy and North Korea. They are clearly agree to disagree with the United States of America. There is a clear hostility between these countries and the American regime. Trump could not accept that the South Korean film to win the Oskar, even though everyone praised the movie and its makers and its idea. There is clear clashes between the USA and many countries of Europe, especially Italy. I know that the virus is spreading in many countries in the Gulf area and it America itself, but using a weapon may kill some of my soldiers, but it will kill much more on the other side. The point is that America may have invented and used this biological weapon against its enemies. The retarded regimes in such fascist countries provided a perfect space for the spread of the virus while its people are accepting death from the hand of God claiming having a great deal of faith.

With Coronavirus spreading everywhere as an invisible enemy, all countries have to co-operate in their best interest to find a solution to this disease who killed thousands and is expecting to kill more in the coming days. When I see and read the news, I see some accusations here and there about who caused the virus to spread, especially between US and China and I don’t think this is the right time to spread the accusations.

Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war may rise against me, In this I will be confident. This is how psalm 27 verse 3 described peace of the heart that leads to peace of mind and act. Pope Shenouda III wrote that peace comes from faith. A heart full of faith leads to mind full of peace no matter how much problems are surrounding man. Having internal peace may be affected by surrounding circumstances. Having a calm family and home will have a different impact on a person from a home full of shouting and noise. This is the reason monks prefer to live in deserts where they can find peace and calm. Therefore, they enjoy peace of mind. May God grant us such peace and calm in order to save our souls and relations.

President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak is one of the most prominent presidents of Egypt and for me he comes second after Nasser. His achievement can’t be ignored by history or the Egyptians. He is the leader of the air strike in the October war and worked hard to restore the Egyptian land till Taba in Sinai. On the side of the infrastructure, Mubarak has established more than 200 bridges that helped solving traffic problems in Egypt including the October bridge. He is the ones who constructed the metro lines and several mega projects in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood tried to assassinate Hosni Mubarak more than three times because he did not allow terrorism and extremism. He was greatly concerned by security and safety of the citizen. Mubarak era was described as years of illiteracy was the season of private universities that provided quality education even for the rich people, but it cleared the way for the outstanding student in governmental universities. The US dollar under Mubarak era was equal only to 5.5 LE and the Egyptian Stock Exchange was in great position. He was accused of corruption, but several businessmen used his regime. He said that chaos will replace his regime and it was very true. I believe he should be honored and his name should be called on a Metro station to honor his memory among the Egyptians.

Last Tuesday, the former President of Egypt, Hosi Mubarak, died at the age of 92. The man who served his country for many years as leader of the Air forces, vice president and president of the republic from 1981 to 2011 deserved to receive a military funeral. Egypt shall remember what he did including all good and bad things. It is understood that history doesn’t know angels or devils, but human beings who commit mistakes and do great things as well. I remember here that when Mubarak left office after the revolution of January 25, he didn’t escape outside of his country to a place where he can be secure. Instead, he stayed and was judged till he died. In that occasion, I offer his family my sincere condolences and may God give him eternal rest and the family the strength to bear the great loss.

Recently another Sheikh released one of the ugliest statements trying to harass one of the purest people who devoted his life to cure children and establish centers in Egypt to cure people who have heart problems. I will not mention the person s name because he doesn t worth my time to waste in writing about him, but I will mention who he meant in his statement and as all knew that he meant Professor DR. Magdy Yacoob. That person tried to distract people from what Dr. Magdy Yacoob is doing to pay attention to himself because he is a failure, and no one remembers who he is and even what he is doing.

Doctors and specialists in the manufacture of prosthetics recommended the necessity of establishing a specialized college equipped with the latest equipment and technical experts, and the abolition of taxes on these devices. One of the companies announced its agreement with the Ministry of Solidarity to support the installation of these parties for those who are not able as a kind of social responsibility. The experts called, during a press conference to strengthen the national industry, and to turn Egypt into an export center for the prosthetics in the Arab and African countries. They demanded to form a high committee of ministries of solidarity, health, financial and private sector experts, to develop a plan to improve the educational and industrial field for prosthetics. Dr. Khaled El-Deeb, Chairman of the Board of Directors Orthomedics for prosthetics announced cooperating with the Ministry of Social Solidarity to provide prosthetics for the poor who need them, as well as donating its products to the concerned authorities. I hope this great idea will be completed to literally change the lives of many people, along with to rehabilitate society, cities and streets to receive people with disability. This needs strong will and understanding rather than a college.

The death of former President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak sparked controversy over holding a full military funeral for him. The Law 35 of 1979 regarding honoring senior leaders of the armed forces has resolved this controversy and defines the general form of the funeral for leaders of the October 1973 war, including President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak. The law stipulates that the officers who occupied the positions of the leaders of the main branches and the head of the Armed Forces Operations Authority in the war of October 6, 1973 shall continue to serve in the forces throughout their lives, as an exception from the provisions of Article 12 of Law No. 90 of 1975. This means that the law granted him such military funeral. However, concerning the ruling issued against him by the Civil Court regarding presidential palaces, which some claim prevents him from holding a military funeral, it should be known that the ruling of the Civil Court against military personnel does not strip him from honors or military ranks. This can only be done through a military court ruling. We may disagree or agree with the late leader, but God will judge him and history will reveal his cons and pros. Our sincere condolences to his family and all his lovers.

Every now and then, we hear Muslims sheikhs discussing if it is permissible to congratulate Christians on their feasts. The answer varies between acceptance as co-citizens and rejection as infidels. The latest version of this shameful discussion came about Dr. Magdy Yacoub, and if his many charitable works may lead him to enter the paradise. I wonder if the clergy in our country have found the sole keys for the kingdom of heaven and, thus, became its guardians. How do they know things that are exclusive to God! They decided that God will allow billions of people to perish since they followed different religion to know Him! The surgeon who treats everyone without questioning their religion, race, sex, social or economical level, and transfers his knowledge to other doctors in order to allow more and more people to be treated, they decided that he has to perish since he is not good enough to join the paradise of the terrorists of ISIS! I call those sheikhs to stop insulting God and trade on religion. Let the people worship God the way they like till they meet with God in the other life.

The days of this week started with love and concluded with humanity. We have seen live examples of love, humility, and generosity in the love of Egypt. The start was on Friday, February 14th, which marked Valentine s Day, and it was a special day for the Egyptian community in Australia, which welcomed the presence of Egyptian guests in their humanitarian mission to support the poor of Egypt. The great writer and thinker Dr. Khaled Montaser and the great artist Ahmed Helmy and Judge Amir Razmy. I had the honor of receiving them at the Sydney International Airport. I can t express how busy their schedule was and how hard did they work to raise donations for the poor. This visit was organized by the Shepherd of Egypt association, which brought joy to the Egyptian community in Sidney. This is from one hand. On the other hand, Sir Magdi Yacoub was honored by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, on Thursday with the scarf of “Mohammed bin Rashid for humanitarian action” during the ceremony of Arab Hope Makers. During the ceremony, EGP 360 million (AED 88 million) donations were also raised for the new Cairo Heart Center inaugurated by Magdi Yacoub Heart Foundation. All these achievements was in one week showing the world how the Egyptians love their country and love humanitarian work.

Coronovirus not just spreading fears about health issues and possibilities for death but also spreading fears and worries about the impact of this virus on the global economy especially that this virus mainly appeared in one of the biggest economies in the world which is China. Coronovirus already started to have a big impact on the market not just in Egypt and the middle east but the whole world including the American market.

We exalt you, the Mother of the true Light. We glorify you, O Saint, the Theotokos (Mother of God). This is a unique prayer we recite daily in the prayers of the Coptic Church seeking consolation, strength and hope. Father John Nassif, priest of the Church of the Virgin Mary in Chicago, said in his article We glorify you, O Mother of True Light is unique among all churches of the world, in which we honor the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, and glorify the Lord Jesus, who is the head of the Church, its pride and steadfastness. This unique prayer is of Coptic origin and has no Greek origin and is not found in any other church in the world other than the Coptic Church. It was not written in the Council of Ephesus as some books claimed. This confusion may have come from the main topic discussed by Ephesus Council, which is the Mother of God. The prayer is part of the Liturgy and not the Nicene creed. Rather, it is a special prayer said before it. Therefore, it was called the introduction of the Nicene Creed. Yet, it introduces many details about the Christian faith. We don t know its writer, but we need to search for him. We exalt you, the Mother of the true Light. We glorify you, O Saint, the Theotokos, for you brought forth unto us the Savior of the whole world; He came and saved our souls. Glory to You, our Master, our King, Christ, the pride of the apostles, the crown of the martyrs, the joy of the righteous, the firmness of the churches, the forgiveness of sins.