Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, recieved on Monday the families of martyrs and victims of the incident of St. Samuel the Confessor in Minya at the papal headquarters of the Cathedral of St. Mark in Abbassia Pope Tawadros paid tribute to the families of the martyrs assuring the support of the Church for them and promised to take care of the victims currently receiving treatment at hospitals.

Dr. Amr Hamroush, Secretary of the Religious Committee in the Egyptian House of Representatives, denied that the religion field in the Egyptian national ID has any negative effects since all Egyptians are equal before the Egyptian constitution and law. He added that there is no difference between a Muslim and a Christian citizen under the principle of equal citizenship. MP Silvia Nabil, a member of the plan and budget committee, said that she supports the removal of the religion field on the national ID card.

Sheikh Makher Shahin, Imam and preacher of Omar Makram Mosque, called to removed religion field from the Egyptian national ID assuring that this will lead to equality among all citizens. Many activists called to removed religion field from the Egyptian national ID after the recent terrorist attack on Copts at St. Samuel monastery in Minya province.

Rashida Tuleib, the first Muslim women in the US Congress said that being a Muslim Arab and a mother makes her stronger. She added that challenged faced her as Muslim woman from Palestinian origins made her active and assured she doesn t fear expressing her true identity.

Bishop Athanasious of France called on the Egyptian government to promote the path of the holy family on an international scale, especially in France. Coptic Bishop of France said that the eight sites of the path have not yet been developed as a suitable tourist attraction, which prevents a large number of tourists from visiting this important Christian attraction.

A Salafi citizen published a number of offers on Facebook to encourage women to wear niqab. The offers included free food samples and special sale for women wearing niqab and promised to distribute a number for free samples of niqab to encourage women to put it on. This comes after Ghada Agamy, member of house of representatives presented a law draft that prohibit wearing niqab in public places considering it a threat for national security.

Abba Suriel, Coptic Bishop of Melbourne, published his resignation today on his Facebook page assuring it is final and has been studied for years. He said that he has suffered insults, death threats, gossip and back stabbings and that he kept the priesthood and bishopric pure and unblemished.

Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, received the first French tourist group to visit the path of the Holy Family. After the visit, the delegation headed to visit the holy places in Egypt.

Egypt s Minister of Tourism Rania Mashat, announced her plan to improve Egypt s reputation in tourism field. She said that her plan concentrates on the sustainable development in the sector in order to create jobs and eliminate poverty.

Egyptian government issued a decision to compensate families of St. Samuel monastery martyrs an amount of 100 thousand EGP. Minister of Social Solidarity Ghada Wali, ordered the payment of a monthly pension of 1500 pounds per month for them.

Othman Hamdan, a Jordanian migrant to Canada posted pro-ISIS comments and support for lone wolf attacks on his Defeat of the Alliance Facebook page before it was taken down by administrators. Othman was acquitted of three terrorism-related charges by a B.C. Supreme Court judge in September 2017, but immigration authorities kept him in custody and determined at multiple detention reviews that he poses a danger to the public.

The Islamophobia Observatory of the Egyptian Fatwa Center praised the campaign launched by Muslims in the United States to support the victims of the synagogue incident in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which took place last Saturday, killing 11 people and leaving dozens of injured people. The Observatory stressed that this behavior expresses the spirit of Islamic tolerance, and that Islam has ordered to show righteousness and compassion towards non-Muslims.

Abba Martiros, Bishop of Eastern Churches of the Railways and professor of Coptic Art, gives a lecture today on ‘The Influence of Political Variables on the Representation of Coptic Manuscripts’ from the 10th to the 15th Century, in Beit Al Sanari in Sayyida Zeinab, Cairo. The lecture is the second lecture of the 9th Coptic Cultural Season in Cairo, organized by the Center for Coptic Studies at the Bibliotheca Alexandria in cooperation with Beit Al Sanari.

Abba Eklimandos, Bishop General of Almaza Churches, opened today the church of St. Mary in Haggana, east of Nasr City. The inauguration ceremony was attended by Bishop Theodosius of Giza and Bishop Markos of Hadayek El-Qubba.

The new British ambassador to Egypt, Sir Jeffrey Adams, is hosting an Egyptian-made event as part of Egypt s inspiring initiative sponsored by the British Embassy to celebrate inspiring Egyptians in all walks of life. The Made In Egypt exhibition highlights Egyptian innovative designers who have been able to support the local high quality product.

Pope Tawadros II appointed Bishop Paula of Tanta as the Papal delegate to Damietta diocese after its Metropolitan has died. Deputy of the diocese said that the priests will hold a meeting to name a new bishop for the diocese and denied that Pope has told them about dividing the diocese.

Al-Azhar issued a statement today to declare its solidarity with the Coptic Church against Israeli attacks in the Sultan Monastery that was built by the Sultan Salah ad-Din Al-Ayyoubi who entrusted it to the Coptic Church. This Coptic Orthodox monastery is located within the walls of the Old City of East Jerusalem. The importance of the Monastery of the Sultan to the Copts is that it is their direct route from the Monastery of St. Anthony to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This monastery is the seat of the Egyptian Patriarchate and the Coptic Church in Jerusalem. The occupation forces took over the monastery without right and gave it to the Ethiopian Church on 25 April 1970. Ever since, the Egyptian Church has been doing its best to recover it.

The Dutch Coptic Association issued a statement to denounce the attacks on the Coptic monks in Jerusalem by the Israeli police. This Coptic Orthodox monastery is located within the walls of the Old City of East Jerusalem. The importance of the Monastery of the Sultan to the Copts is that it is their direct route from the Monastery of St. Anthony to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This monastery is the seat of the Egyptian Patriarchate and the Coptic Church in Jerusalem. The occupation forces took over the monastery without right and gave it to the Ethiopian Church on 25 April 1970. Ever since, the Egyptian Church has been doing its best to recover it.

Sources in the Coptic Orthodox church said a number of general bishops will be changed in the next weeks. The monastery of St. Demiana in Belqas will be separated from Damietta diocese. Abba Hermina, Bishop of Ain Shams will be moved to Eastern Alexandria, while Abba Isaac, Bishop of Tamia dn Snores in Fayoum will be moved to Ain Shams.

Abba Serapion, Bishop of Los Angeles, accused Father Makari Younan, Priest of St. Mark Church in Klout Bai, of disobedience after he held a prayer meeting in a hotel in Los Angeles. For his part, Father Makari said he traveled to America after taking permission from Pope Tawadros and Bishop of Central Cairo Churches, and he had to hold the prayer meeting at a hotel after the attendees reached 1500 people..

The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism launched a program to promote tourism in 9 Egyptian cities starting from April 29, 2020. According to the program, Egypt will pay 3500 $ to flights heading to Taba, Aswan, Luxor, Abu Simbel, al-Amein and Matrouh.