Father Misael of St. Paul monastery talked for the first time after fire erupted and destroyed the church of St. Paul in Cairo. He explained that the cause of the fire is short circuit and the air conditioning and furniture helped spread the fire. More than 20 fire engines controlled the fire in 5 hours.

Fire broke out at the church of St. Paul in Haayek al-Qubba and destroyed the upper floor of the building which houses a service building and the kitchen. Police is investigating the reasons of the fire that luckily didn’t cause any deaths.

The Australian actor and director Mel Gibson started shooting the sequel of Passion of Christ movie. He added that this part of the movie will concentrate on the spiritual part of resurrection and the following 40 days till the ascension into heavens. He said it will be released in cinemas in 2020.

Copts of Mitt Nama city in Shubra al-Khaimah expressed their anger at the continued closure of the Church of Mitt Nama though it had obtained all due permits since 2001. Police had shut down the service building in which the congregation held thier prayers last Easter promising to allow them to start building the licensed building, but such promises were not fulfilled claiming they fear reaction of the extremists in the area.

The Church of St. Bishoy in Ismailia held the Annual Commemorative Service to Father Raphael Moussa , priest of St. George Church in El Arish who was martyred by a terrorist organization in Sinai on June 30, 2016, on his way home after the end of the Holy Mass. The martyr father Raphael Moussa has been ordained a priest with his brother in the service Martyr Father Mina Abboud, who was martyred as well by the terrorist group in El-Arish on July 6, 2013. The terrorist organization of Beit Al-Maqdis in Sinai claimed responsibility of the attack.

The Coptic Orthodox Coptic Church issued a statement condemning the recent terrorist attack and the killing of an officer and six conscripts in the city of El Arish. The church, headed by His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, condemned the attack and prayed for repose for the martyrs and speedy recovery for the injured.

A limited fire erupted at the Martyrs Church in Shubra Al - Khaimah before the Civil Defense Forces succeeded in controlling it without causing casualties. Investigations suggested that it was caused by short circuit due to high temperatures.

Khaled Al-Anani, Egypt s Minister of Antiquities, said that Egypt is working on registering Wadi Natroun monasteries in UNESCO World Heritage list. This came during his speech at the Opera Egypt Road commemorating the Holy Family s entry into the land of Egypt, at the Al-Manara Center for Conferences in the Fifth Gathering organized by the Nahra Association to revive the national heritage.

The Criminal Court of Minya decided on Tuesday to postpone 3 cases of attacking the Copts in Minya including the murder of the Coptic citizen Iskandar Tous and the burning and looting of Coptic houses in the village of Dalja in the center of Deir Mawas in Minya, which dates back to 2013 after the dispersal of Rabaa Adawia and Nahda sit-ins. The postponement comes to hear the witnesses of police officers in the cases and it was postponed to July 29.

Minya Criminal Court is going to consider 3 cases of the Copts including the case of Karm village lady who was stripped nude in the streets by angry mobs over rumors about romantic relationship between her son and a Muslim woman. Later houses of the Copts in the village was set on fire by the angry mobs. The third case considered by the court is the case of the murder of a Coptic man called Eskandar Tos.

Ambassador Nabila Makram, Minister of Immigration and Foreign Affairs of Egypt, honored the former New South Wales State Police Commissioner and one of the most prominent and influential Egyptians in Australia. She congratulated him on his hard working and the great achievement as representative of the Egyptians in Austiralia.

Dr. Kamal Sharobim, Governor of Dakahlia, said that the sun stands on the altar of Archangel Michael in the Church of St. George in Mit Ghamr on June 19th, which is the feast of the Archangel, is a world event that illustrates the genius of Egyptian human beings since the dawn of history. He added that this phenomenon reminds us of the sun stand on the Temple of Abu Simbel proving that Egyptian engineers continue building their civilization. He called for using such phenomenon to develop local tourism in the governorate.

The Executive Committee and the General Secretariat of the Council of Churches of Egypt met at the Evangelical Church in Egypt with representatives of the churches participating in the Council. The meeting was chaired by Father Paul Gras, Secretary General of the Council of Churches of Egypt, and discussed how to solve problems of extremism in Upper Egypt.

In a customary reconciliation session held in Ashnin al-Nassarah village, Minya, the Christian and Muslim parties apologized for what happened recently in the village denouncing any insult for religion and claiming the application of the law. The session was attended by family members of the accused Coptic man and leaders of the biggest Muslim families in the village. For his part, father of the accused Coptic man assured that account of his own son was stolen and the post was not published by his own son.

Bishop Sameul of Timwa perfumed the remains of St. Philopatir in his historic monastery. The celebration was attended by many people who came to celebrate the feast of the saint in the monastery that was founded in the fifth century.

Detained brother and uncles of the Coptic young man accused of defamation of Islam were released while the young man is currently being investigated. Police have taken extra security measures to secure the village on Ashnin al-Nassarah and arrested a number of extremists who incited against the Copts in the village.

Dr. Rev. Andrea Zaki, head of the Evangilical community in Egypt, ordained 5 new pastors for the ministry in several villages in Assiut and Minya. The new pastors are Sameh Dawood, Peter Samy, Rimon Rakha, Ezat Maher and Milad Abdul Tawab. The celebrations were attended by a number of senior officials in Minya and Assiut governorates.

Magaghah diocese in Minya said that the police arrested Fadi Youssef who is accused of publishing a post insulting Islam, which triggered the events of yesterday against the Copts in the village of Ashnin al-Nasara. Sources in the Police said that brother and three uncles of Fadi were arrested along with him. It is worth mentioning that Fadi had published a apology for what was posted on his stolen account, but this didn t prevent the attacks on Copts of the village.

A number of militants attacked some Coptic families in the village of Ashnin al-Nasara after one of its sons was accused of publishing an insulting post for Islam on social media. Family of the accused man said his Facebook account was stolen and used to publish the post. Soon, their home was attacked and demolished by the angry mobs.

Calm has returned to the village of Ali Pasha in Samalut, Minya, after a meeting was held yesterday during which Coptic and Muslim families agreed to exclude the girl who has converted into Islam. The two parties pledged in the customary reconciliation session not to incite any attacks between Muslims and Christians and leave the girl live in peace with her new husband. It is worth mentioning that police is still taking extra security measures to secure the village to ensure safety and stability.

Construction of the outer wall of the Monastery of Prince Tadros in Manfalut was completed after it was demolished in the floods last November along with sheep farms, workshops and carpentry equipment. Father Matta Rizk, deputy of Manfalout diocese, said that the reconstruction of the other demolished area is still going giving the great cost needed to finish the work.