The annual 23rd seminar of the priests of Behira and Banha was held in St. Mark house in Damanhour. The seminar was entitled the priest and the life of the depth was attended by Bishops Pachomious of Behira, Maximus of Banha and Pavly of youth in Alexandria.

A delegation of Coptic priests visited the Christian prisoners in Margy prison. They celebrated the holy mass with the prisoners as part of the pastoral care provided for the prisoners.

Syrian Churches denounced the American-British-French attacks of on their country. Statements of the churches described the attack as oppressive and said it violates all international laws.

In a new episode of The Heritage of Our Church: Spirit and Life television program, Abba Raphael, secretary of the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church, talked about the acceptance of the others. He added that church unity is critically related to the concept of acceptance of the others as each church has different thinking concerning communion and priesthood. Such differences should be respected

Coptic Diocese of Mississauga, Vancouver, and Western Canada celebrated the Resurrection of Jesus Christ in the presence of its bishop Abba Mina and the clergy of St. Mary and St. Athanasius in Mississauga. A delegation from the Canadian government as well as the Egyptian Embassy in Canada attended the celebration to congratulate the Copts on their feast.

On the occasion of Easter 2018, The Coptic church published the Papal Encyclical of the Glorious Feast of the Resurrection, which reads: Ekhristos Anesti, Alithos Anesti. Christ is risen, Truly, He is risen. I congratulate you my beloved for the Glorious Feast of the Resurrection. The Feast of the Resurrection is the epitome of our feasts and the most joyful of our joys. I congratulate everyone everywhere. I congratulate all fathers the Metropolitans, Bishops, hegumens, presbyters, monks, deacons, all elders, the members of church boards in all dioceses, all people, youth, servants, all families, and young children. I congratulate you on the Glorious Feast of the Resurrection, which is known by three names: We call it the “Feast of Passover”, meaning to pass from darkness to light. This is the night before the Resurrection Liturgy, the Apocalypse night, when we enter the church in darkness and conclude with the holy liturgy on the Bright Saturday in the light. We also call it the Feast of the Easter. This word is derived from the word “East”. It is an eastern feast, and the east is always associated with light. I also congratulate you by its third name, Sunday. It is the feast of Sunday, which means day of the light. This is the day of light, Feast of the Light. In the various events of the glorious resurrection, occurring during the week of Pascha, we encounter several characters. The resurrection is the biggest event in the history of mankind and implants hope for humanity. We are faced with two types of people. One kind of human being causes pain while another implants hope. In the Arabic language, both words “Pain” and “Hope” have exactly the same letters, but are arranged differently. There are those who cause pain and suffering in the lives of men, and others who implant hope and optimism. The resurrection is the greatest earthly event implanting hope in men s souls. Let us take some few examples. When we read in the beginning of the New Testament, we read about King Herod. A man who caused pain. He was responsible for the killing of the children of Bethlehem. These were younger than two years old. His intent was to kill the child Jesus. He caused and nurtured pain that resulted in crying and lamentations that filled the land because of children s slaughter. More examples of people who caused pain for men are the Jews who crucified the Lord Christ. The sufferings of crucifixion were enormous physically, psychologically and emotionally. They included the pain of mockery, nails, crown of thorns, and the cross itself. There were the screams of the crowd present, their wrath, insults, and harsh words directed to the Lord Christ on the cross. These extreme sufferings were inflicted by the Jews who crucified the Lord Christ. They culminated by the death of Christ on the cross. Another example of those who caused pain in the lives of men was Judas, the traitor disciple. He was a disciple selected by Christ, with his brothers the disciples. He lived among them, watched the miracles of the Lord Jesus Christ and listened to His teachings. But his inferior personality allowed him to compromise Christ with money, causing extensive pain by betraying and selling Him cheaply. This concluded by hanging and suicide.

Father Dr. Makari Abdallah, the priest of the Church of Archangel Michael in Toson, departed yesterday after a priestly service of nearly 50 years. According to the Coptic Cultural Center, Makari was a professor and head of the mathematics department at the Faculty of Science, Cairo University.

The Coptic diocese of Tima decided to celebrate the 40 day departure anniversary on April 17th. The memorial service will be held at the new Cathedral of Tima that was built by the late bishop.

Abba Peter, Bishop of North and South Carolina and Kentucky, celebrated the Easter Holy Mass at St. Mary church in Greenville, South Carolina. The liturgy was attended by the priest of the Church, Father Shenouda Markos, and the congregation of the church.

Pope Twadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, washed the feet of the congregation at St. Mina monastery as part of the rituals of Maundy Thursday. The ritual imitates what was carried out by Jesus Christ when he washed the feet of his disciples and ordered them to do the same.

Abba Barnabas, Bishop of Turin and Rome, headed a delegation from the Coptic Orthodox Church to congratulate Pope Francis on Easter. The delegation visited the Church of Saint Peter the Apostle in the Vatican, where he attended part of the mass of the feast.

Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Petrarch of St. Mark See, visited the great Cathedral of St. Mark to check on the restoration work at it. Workers and engineers received the Pope and assured they are working hard to finish the work before Easter festivals next Saturday. This year, the Church celebrates 50 years anniversary of the opening of the cathedral by Pope Cyril VI, the 116th Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox church.

Abba Bakhoumios, Bishop of Behira and former acting Patriarch, inaugurated the church of St. Mary and St. Philopatir, in Borg Arab with Abba Bavly, the garner bishop.

The Ministry of Antiquities, in cooperation with the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, Egypt three pieces of antiques, which had been smuggled out of the country to America. The pieces are fragments of a mummy made up of two human heads and hands that had been stolen from the Valley of the Kings in Luxor and smuggled out of the country in 1927.

Monks of al- Shayeb Monastery casted their votes today at the presidential elections. The monastery sent a delegation of its monks headed by bishop Silwanis, bishop of the monastery to participate in the elections.

Abba Pachomious, former acting patriarch, casted his vote today at the presidential elections in Egypt despite his bad health conditions. Moreover, bishops of the Coptic Orthodox Church rushed today to cast their votes in the elections and perform this national duty after Pope Tawadros casted his vote yesterday in Cairo.

Fatwa House denounced the use of religion and trading on it by the terrorist group of the Muslim Brotherhood during the presidential elections. Dr. Youssef Qaradawy, prominent member of the Muslim Brotherhood had prohibited casting votes in the elections after it was a religious duty under the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Pope Tawadros casted his vote in the presidential elections and called all Egyptians to participate in the elections as well. Pope said that Egypt deserves to receive such appreciation from its citizens.

Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Petrarch of St. Mark See, honored the families of the martyrs of St. Mark church terrorist attack who were killed last year at Palm Sunday. Some gifts were presented for them at the weekly meeting at St. Mary church in Semoha, Alexandria.

Coptic Orthodox Church announced the death of Bishop Antonius of Manfallout. Abba Antonius was born on May 31, 1951 in Qena province, and was named Zakaria Ezzat. He received a bachelor s degree in dentistry in 1977 from Cairo University and went to the Syrian Monastery of the Virgin Mary on December 8, 1980. He was ordained bishop on the feast of Pentecost on June 22, 1986. The funeral was held at 12 O clock at St. Tadrus monastery.

Egyptian army announced the elimination of a very dangerous terrorist cell in North Sinai. 30 terrorist elements and arrested 345 extremely dangerous terrorists with huge amount of weapons in their possession.