Abba Bacilious, bishop of St. Samuel monastery headed the prayers at the place of the terrorist attack where dozens of Copts were shot dead. 28 Copts including children were killed as they were heading to visit the monastery.

Abba Arsanious, bishop of Minya and Abba Makarios, general Bishop of Minya, ordained 5 new priests at the diocese. The new priests are fathers Hanania Moris, Besada Thabet, Anthon Atef, Lucas Flimon and Yaccoub Saad. The new priests headed to Paramous monastery at Wadil Natroun to spend 40 days of spiritual retreat according to the Coptic ritual.

The Egyptian Cabinet permitted the building of a Catholic church in the new administrative capital and dedicated a piece of land for that purpose. The construction of the new church will start soon and sources expected that the three Christian communities will have churches in the new administrative capital.

In the context of renewal of religious discourse, Dr. Shawki Allam, Egypt s Mufti, corrected the misconceptions used by the extremist and terrorist groups of Islam. He said that Koran calls for co-existence with non-Muslims and when killing the unbelievers was mentioned it meant specific unbelievers in certain situation and not a general rule.

Agaibi family in Luxor started holding banquets for Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan and helps the poor to get their daughter marry. The Coptic family is known for its charity works for Muslims and Christians and they have built a mosque in their village.

Abba Ibrahim Isaac, Patriarch of the Catholic Coptic church, received a delegation from the Caritas Association, aimed at improving the human condition and everyone. Caritas International is a confederation of 165 Catholic relief, development and social service organizations operating in over 200 countries and territories worldwide. Collectively and individually their claimed mission is to work to build a better world, especially for the poor and oppressed.

Bishop Daniel of Maadi was elected as Secretary General of the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church.

Armin Lachit, Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, called for the official recognition of Islam in Germany.

Father Rofael Smay, the Secretary of the Egyptian Family House branch in Fayoum, said that the return of the remains of the Coptic martyrs in Libya to their hometown in Egypt is a message to the whole world that Egypt takes good care of her children. He added that the state has exerted great efforts to return the remains of these martyrs to be a great blessing to its land.

Dozens of Copts are visiting the shrine of the martyrs of Libya in Aour village, Minya, amid tight security measures. The relics of the martyrs were put yesterday at their shrine in the church of the Martyrs of Faith and the Homeland after they were transferred from Libya to Egypt.

Spanish newspapers have highlighted the continued campaign of ISIS terrorist organization against Christian communities and publishing threats to Pope Francis. This came after series of bombings against three Catholic churches in one of the cities Indonesia which was carried out by a number of suicide bombers killing at least 13 people.

Sources in the Coptic Orthodox Church said the next session of the Holy Synod will witness changes in church leaders. Sources expected that Abba Daniel, Bishop of Maadi will take responsibilities of the General Secretary of the Holy Synod while Abba Markos, Bishop of Qubba Gardens have taken the responsibly of the Clerical council .

Al-Azhar condemned the terrorist attacks on three churches in the city of Surabaya, Indonesia killing and injuring dozens of Christians. Statement of Al-Azhar stressed that such criminal acts are abhorred by all religions and humanitarian principles including Islam.

Abba Bishoy, Metropolitan of Kafr el-Sheikh and Barari Belqas, said that St. Mary appeared at several churches in Egypt including her apparition in Zeiton in 1968. He added that the Virgin has only appeared in Egypt at the Coptic Orthodox churches and it is not fanaticism to state that no other sects were blessed by the holy apparitions. His Grace explained that the Coptic Orthodox Church was mentioned in the Old Testament by Isaiah the prophet who said Blessed be Egypt my people and also said In that day shall there be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the LORD

The Council of Churches of the Middle East held a meeting to discuss the situation of Christians in the Middle East under the recent political and security situation. The meeting was held for two days and called international community to support the existence of Christmas in the Middle East.

Abba Pfnotius, bishop of Samalout, said that the church is ready to receive the remains of the martyrs of Libya. Father Dawood Nashid, deputy of the diocese, said that the Minister of Foreign affairs is coordinating with the church to decide the date of receiving the remnants of the martyrs and place them at the church in their hometown.

Police investigations reveal increasing target of Copts by ISIS between Port Said and Sheikh Zuwaid. Investigations also revealed that a school owned by the church was set on fire and a woman called Fatma Anwar played an important role in helping the terrorists.

The monastery of St. Demiana in Belqas is celebrating her feast among tight security measures. The monastery announced that the celebrations will continue from May 13 to May 20.

The Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services held a conference on contemporary challenges in cooperation with the Swedish Sigtuna Foundation. The conference was attended by 50 participants from countries like Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. Andrea Zaki, spokesman for the Evangelical church, said that the conference discussed very important issues related to the Christian congregation.

Abba Samuel, Bishop of Tamwa, ordained two new priests at the church of St. Stephen and St. Sameul in Tamwa. The new priests are Father Phiopatir Farouk and Father Daneil Farag.

Coptic Christians celebrate the martyrdom feast of St. George on May 1st. The reverenced Martyr was born in 280 in Palestine. He was tortured for seven consecutive years because of his Christian faith.