Coptic denominations offered thank President al-Sisi for legalizing 87 new churches. The committee on the legalization of churches at its Wednesday meeting approved legalizing the status of 87 churches and affiliated buildings to raise the total number of legalized churches to 1322 churches.

Bishop Hedra of Aswan ordained 2 new priests at the church of St. George in Kom Ombo in the presence of Bishop Youacim of Esna and Armant. The new priests are Father Matta Murad and Bishoy Hanna. They headed to the monastery to spend 40 days of spiritual retreat according to the Coptic rituals.

Bishop Arsani of the Netherlands inaugurated today a special mural of mosaic by the architect Adel Nassif at the Church of Our Lady and St. Athanasius in Assen, the Netherlands. The mural aims to spread awareness of Coptic art, especially among youth of the Diaspora and to express the great Egyptian history and art.

Bloomberg said in a recent report that the profits of Egyptian companies have increased to record levels as a result of floating the Egyptian pound. It added that the inflation rate approached an unprecedented low rate, and that the foreign reserves flourished, and that the EGP achieved its best annual performance since 1999.

Dr. Tariq Jammal, president of Assiut University announced the issuance of a presidential decree to reappoint Dr. Wajdi Refat Farid Nakhleh, Dean of the Faculty of Specific Education for three years. This is his second term in the same position, which was preceded by his position as the Vice-Dean for Community Service and Environmental Development.

Catholic Church in Sharqia Province is holding a grand celebration today to receive the remains of St. Teresa, who arrived to Egypt from France, to roam a number of governorates of Egypt, and bless the Egyptian people. The remains arrived from Aexandria to Sharqia and will head to Sharm el-Sheikh, after spending some time in the cities of the province.

Copts of Sydney joined a march against violence against women organized by Randwick Municipality. The participants held picture of Jihan Kyrolous who was recently killed by her husband.

Monks of St. Shenouda Monastery in in New South Wales, Australia, thanked firefighters for precautionary measures to protect the monastery from the forest fires with the high temperatures and low rainfall. The firefighters worked hard to burn the bushes and dry grass surrounding the buildings around the monastery. The monastery also thanked the neighbors who provided meals for the firefighters, and held prayers for rain.

The Church of Our Lady and St. Verena celebrated the third anniversary of the purchase and founding of the church. The celebration was headed by HG Bishop Arsani who ordained a group of deacons at the rank of Ebsaltus (chanter) and Ognostos (reader). The ceremony was also attended by Mr. Han Ter Heegde, Mayor of Bussum.

Assiut prosecutor ordered the detention of 4 people who kidnapped a Coptic child for the ransom. The defendants confessed in their statements to the Public Prosecution that they kidnapped the 13-year-old student on his return from school to demand a large sum of money from his family as ransom.

Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, inaugurated the Church of the Virgin Mary and St. Mark in Belgium in the presence of many bishops, clergy and the congregation of the church. This came during his pastoral care visit to Europe.

Youhna Gaber, spokesman of Helwan diocese that the wood of the building was completely destroyed in the fire of St. George Church. He added that police is currently investigating the matter to find out the reason behind the fire.

The Cathedral of Our Lady in Amsterdam celebrated on Sunday the annual anniversary of its foundation. The celebration was headed by HG Bishop Arsani of the Netherlands and was attended by the congregation and deacons of the Cathedral.

Ministers and congregation of the church of St. Mark in the Hauge celebrated the Silver Jubilee of the Church last Saturday. The celebration was attended by HG Bishop Arsani of the Netherlands and priests of the diocese. The celebration began with a documentary film about the history of the church.

The Coptic diocese of Sydney said in a statement that it offered to sell three adjacent plots of four purchased by the Coptic Church in 2014 for the purpose of building a cathedral and the residence of the bishop and some facilities and services buildings. This project was blessed by His Holiness Pope Tawadroas II who laid the foundation stone during his historic visit to Australia two years ago. Statement added that there was a need for developing the faculty of the Virgin Mary and St. Mina high School in the Rockdale area. After many meetings, the Archdiocese and its committees saw the importance of the college for the future of our children. It was decided to postpone the bishopric project again because the conditions of service and priorities and the material benefit from the sale requires attention to Coptic colleges and the abdication of the Bishop for the existence of the headquarters of the bishopric and preferred to develop school buildings in the Rockdale area to serve our children and the future of Coptic Christian education.

The Diocese of the Netherlands organized a spiritual day for people with disabilities on Saturday at the Coptic Cultural Center in Amsterdam. The day was attended by HG Bishop Arsani of the Netherlands who thanked everyone who contributed to the organization of this day.

Bishop Eklimindos of Almaza and East of Nasr City ordained 40 new deacons at the church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Hagana. The deacons were ordained in the basic rank of Ebsaltus, which is translated chanter.

Bishop Michael, general bishop of Hadayed al-Qubba, ordained a large group of deacons in various ranks. They were celebrating the Holy Mass at the church of St. George Church of Manshiet Al-Sadr on the occasion of the New Coptic year.

His Eminence Bishop Marc of Paris and Northern France ordained today 30 new deacons at the ranks of Ognostus (reader) and Ebsaltus (chanter). The ordination was held at the Church of Our Lady and the Archangel Rafael (headquarters of the Archdiocese) in the region of Dravi.

Feast of the Virgin was turned into a national unity holiday in Sharqia with many Muslim visitors congratulating the Copts on the feast. Extra security measures have been taken to secure the celebrations among the presence of millions of the Copts from all over Egypt.

The Faculty of Arts at Alexandria University announced the opening of its unique department specialized at the Coptic language, history and literature. The department was opened last February in the presence of Dr. Essam Kordy, president of the university and HG Bishop Bavly, bishop of the Montazah Churches.