Middle East Council of Churches announced it had renovated 24 shops in the Syrian governorates of Daraa and Aleppo after they were partially destroyed during the crisis in Syria. It said that this restoration has helped shopkeepers to reopen their shops after years of closure.

Coptic church mourned the departure of Father Bishoy Aziz, priest of St. Mina Church in Alf Maskan, Cairo, who died at the age of 73 and after spending 33 years in priesthood service. The late priest was born in Beni Suef in July 4, 1964, and was ordained a priest On March 6, 1987. His Holiness Pope Tawadros II extended his sincere condolences to the Congregation and Priests of the Churches of Ain Shams for the Departure of Father Bishoy. The late father is brother of Father Michale Aziz, priest of the Virgin church in Ard al-Golf, and Faterh Habib Girgis Aziz in Melbourne, Australia.

St. Samuel monastery receives visitors on the first anniversary of the second terrorist attack, in which 7 Copts were killed in their way to visit the monastery. The memorial service will be attended by families of the martyrs and other visitors, and police will secure the road to the monastery.

The Criminal Court of Minya postponed three cases related to the Copts for the next December and Juanuary, including the case of the killing of Iskandar Tous and the burning and looting of houses of the Copts of the village of Dalja in Minya, which dates back to 2013 after the dispersal of Rabaa Adawia sit-in. The other case is the stripping of the old lady Soad Thabet in Karm village and the attacks on Coptic houses of the village after rumors about romantic relationship between her son and a Muslim woman. Dr. Ihab Ramzi, head of the defense team in the three cases, said that the cases have been postponed for several years for no good reason.

The under construction Catholic Church of St. George in Hijaza, Qena by extremists to prevent them from holding prayers in the building. For more than 26 years, the extremists in the area have been targeting the Copts and their church in the village. The church had received a decision to replace and renovate in 1993, but the rebuilding process has stopped for security reasons. The Copts build a camp to pray in, but it was burned several times, the last and not the least was yesterday after part of the Camp was exposed by the wind to reveal the attempts of the Copts to pray in the building, which raised the anger of the extremists who called to attack the building and prevent the prayers of the infidels.

Andre Zaki, head of the Evangelical community, said that his current visit to the United States has three goals. He met with members of the American congress to discuss the situation in the Middle East and the challenges of Christians in the region. The second part is a pastoral care visit to the congregation and the churches. The third part is to lead meetings of several councils. He added that the visit aims to reflect the right image of Egypt.

St. Mary Church in New Jersey commemorated the departure of Archbishop Bishoy of Damietta on the first annual anniversary of his departure. Pope Tawadros II, had said in his weekly sermon that Abba Bishoy was a hero in explaining the Christian faith.

Bishop Bigol, head of Muharraq monastery, celebrated the feast of the Cross at St. Abanop and St. Anthony Church in Bayon, New Jersey. This comes as part of his pastoral care visit to America.

The Evangelical Church headed by Dr. Rev. Andrea Zaki, mourned the martyrs of Apple ambush in Sinai who have been killed last Friday. The church said in media statement that prayers are been held for the homeland and for the souls of the innocent soldiers who were killed in the terrorist attack.

During his visit to the USA, President Abdul Fatah al-Sisi held a meeting with leaders of the evangelical churches in New York. Al-Sisi said that Egypt is determined to fight terrorism and ensures equality among the Egyptian people. He added that Egypt seeks to establish a culture of pluralism and acceptance of the other.

Bishop Bemen of Qusia and Mir announced the discovery of the body of St. Athanasius of Qus who lived in the 13th century. This came during the restoration of the monastery of St. Boktor in Qena. Bishop Athanasius of Qus was ordained in 1365 and was a great scholar and versified a Christian book in Coptic language.

Leaders of the Evangelical community celebrated the centenary of the Presbyterian Fajala Church. Dr. Andrea Zaki, head of the Evangelical community said that the church has been light and salt in this world, just like we should be. He invited the church for more hard working and creativity in the ministry.

St. Tekla Church in Ashmoun will honor Dr. George Abd El-Sayed, Professor of Internal Medicine and Hepatology at American Universities, by calling his name on one of the halls of the Church Hospital. Father Agathon, priest of the church, will give the professor a shield of honor on that occasion.

HG Bishop Moussa of Youth opened the 19th conference of youth in Europe entitled Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine . Bishop Beranaba of Turin and Rome welcomed the nearly 600 participates who came from 12 countries. The keynote speakers of the conference are HG Bishop Moussa, General Bishop of Youth, HG Bishop Bimen of Naqada and Qus, Bishop Anthony of Ireland, Scotland and North East England, Bishop Demian, head of Our Lady monastery of Hoxter, Germany, Bishop Barnabas of Turin, France and Rome, Bishop Angelos of Stevening and North West England, Bishop Gabriel of Austria and the German Sector in Switzerland, Bishop Abakir of Scandinavia and Bishop Michael of Southern Germany, Dr. Nader Riad, Chairman of Bavaria Egypt, and Eng. Ibrahim Samak, Vice President of the African Hope Foundation.

Bishop Arsani of the Netherlands honored excellent students of secondary school today at the church of St. Verena in Bussum. The celebration was attended by Han Ter Heegde, Mayor of Bussum.

Coptic Culture Center of the Coptic Orthodox Church announced organizing trips to Jerusalem the next year in installments. The trips prices start from $ 650 excluding the unspecified flight prices.

The Eastern Apostolic Churches in Australia met with the President of the New South Wales to discuss a number of important and fateful issues, which recently occupied the Australian public opinion including the Abortion law. Representatives of the Eastern Apostolic Churches in Australia discuss had declared their refusal for the law.

Coptic priest Father Luke Assad demanded clarification after contradicting verdicts concerning selling churches were issues by court in Alexandria. Egyptian court issued a decision to ban demolition or selling of churches. This ruling gives churches the same inviolability of mosques, while another one gave the opponent the right to sell the church. It is worth mentioning that such ruling comes against a former judge who claimed he bought a church from the Roman Church though this church was donated to the Coptic Orthodox Church and this former judge decided to demolish it if he doesn’t receive a huge amount of money.

Egyptian flag was celebrated in Macedonia after Egypt s U 19 team won the World Championship for the first time after defeating Germany 32-28 on Sunday. Hassan Mustafa, President of the International Handball Federation, handed the medals to the players. It is the first time that Egypt win an U 19 World Championship title and the first time that a non-European team be crowned world champions.

Egyptian president Abdul Fattah al-Sisi congratulated Egypt and the Egyptian team under 19 on winning Handball World Cup Egyptian flag was celebrated in Macedonia after Egypt s U 19 team won the World Championship for the first time after defeating Germany 32-28 on Sunday. It is the first time that Egypt win an U 19 World Championship title and the first time that a non-European team be crowned world champions.

Pope Tawadros II participated in the celebration of Science Day in the presence of President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi. President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi honored a number of Egyptian scientists and researchers on Sunday, affirming that education and science will remain on the state s top priorities. Day of Science has been celebrated since 1944 and honored 2215 people.