The Diocese of Melbourne and its dependencies in Australia congratulated Father Jonathan Alexander, who was ordained a priest yesterday by Pope Tawadros II among 24 other priests of Cairo, Mahalla and Africa. The new priest will minister at the church of St. Bishoy and St. Shenouda in Victoria city.

Bishop Tadros of Port Said and the Pontifical Vicar of the Diocese of Sydney and its dependencies congratulated the people of the diocese in the Australian states, New South Wales, Queensland and Darwin on the start of the Great Lent, which he described as a season for repentance, charity work and earning virtues. It is wroth mentioning that Abba Tadros, decided to form an education committee consisting of Father Rafael Iskandar, priest of St. George Church in Kensington, Father Michael Michael, Priest of the Cathedral of St. Mary and St. Mina in Beklesi, and Father Antonios Kaldas, Priest of the Church of Archangel Michael and St. Bishoy in Mont Droit. The Committee was assigned to supervise and review the curricula of Sunday schools, and the seminary, and ensure their commitment to the Coptic Orthodox faith.

Coptic Church celebrated the feast of St. Sawiris, Patriarch of Antioch, yesterday. The saint has suffered a lot in order to defend the right faith and was persecuted and displaced and died in Egypt.

Dr. Mamdouh Ghurab, Governor of Sharqia, held a meeting with Representatives of Christian churches and denominations to follow up the implementation of the decisions issued by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers to legalize the churches and their service buildings. The meeting was attended by several senior officials in the governorate who discussed how to complete the demands and legalize 85 churches, out of which only 30 churches were done with the documents.

Fikry Nashid, known as father of the martyrs after his two daughters sand wife were martyred in Alexandria church bombing in 2011, denounced lack of celebrations on the feast of the martyrs of modern age celebrated on February 15th. He added that the Holy Synod has decided to celebrate that feast and to form a committee to care for families of the martyrs, but both decisions were not put into action yet.

Under the title “Take it seriously, the Church of Saints in Sidi Bishr, Alexandria, organizes next Thursday, February 20, a meeting for employment of young men and women in the churches of Alexandria, in cooperation with the Economic Development Committee of the Holy Synod. The forum is held under the auspices of HG Bishop Bavly of Alexandria and with the participation of several companies.

St. Kirill Coptic Chior in London celebrated its tenth anniversary in the presence of Bishops Moussa of Youth, Angelos of London, and Arsany of the Netherlands as well as Metropolitan Silwan From the Antiochean church. The Choir presented a number of hymns and praises in Coptic, English and Arabic languages, with the participation of 140 youth from England, France and the Netherlands.

The church of St. George in Sporting, Alexandria, launched a week for the youth from February 17-20, and gave it the title ‘God is my father’. A number of famous speakers will give lectures including Father Poulos George, Father Moussa Nasry, Fathe rTAdrus Yacoub and Bishop Karas of Mahala.

Father Michael Anton, Representative of the Coptic Orthodox Church in front of the ministerial committee to legalize churches, praised the increasing rate of legalizing churches, which reached 1500 churches for the Coptic Orthodox Church alone. He added that the church had applied to legalize about 4500 churches according to the law of 2016.

The Coptic Orthodox Church celebrated today the feast of Nineveh after a three-day fasting, during which late daily masses are celebrated. Nineveh fasting commemorates the three days that the Prophet Jonah spent in the belly of the Great Fish and the subsequent fast and repentance of the Ninevites at the warning message of the prophet Jonah according to the bible. The Fast is followed shortly by the Great Lent during which participants abstain from all kinds of dairy foods and meat products.

Bishop Tadros of Port Said concluded the pastoral care visit to Australia, which extended for 5 weeks, during which he met with the congregation and prepared a report about the diocese to be presented to Pope Tawadros II. Several decisions were made during the visit including the appointing of a new agent and secretary of a financial and administrative committee for the diocese, as well as establishing a committee for guardians of the funds and properties of the diocese. It was also decided to amend the diocese s bylaw.

60 deacons were ordained yesterday at the basic rank of Ebsaltus (chanter) in the monastery of St. Parsoum in Helwan. Bishop Besenty of Helwan also promoted 4 priests to the rank of Hegumin during the Holy Mass.

Dr. Mamdouh Ghurab, Governor of Sharqia, announced that 30 churches and affiliated buildings were legalized according to the law of houses of worship. He added during a meeting with church representatives that 52 other buildings are currently under the process of legalizing after completing the requirements of civil protection, Urban Planning and Engineering Affairs.

During his Pastoral care visit to Sideny, Bishop Tadros met with a number of a number of Australian judges and lawyers, including Michael Lee, judge of the Australian Federal Court, John Hutzesjus, judge of the New South Wales State Court, Tsavaridis, judge of the New South Wales District Court, and Robert Isaac, president of the William Roberts Law Firm. They discussed the appointment of a committee of guardians of the property and funds of the diocese, which requires amending the diocese constitution registered with many Australian government agencies.

Diocese of Samalout will open Museum and Panorama of the 21 Martyrs of Libya on February 15th. The panorama will include everything about the martyrs, starting with their imprisonment, slaughter, and return of their bodies. It it will also include documents and pictures in Arabic, English and French.

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, yesterday at the Pontifical headquarters in Alexandria, Patriarch Theodoros of Alexandria and the rest of Africa for the Greek Orthodox, who came to the Patriarchate in Alexandria at the head of a delegation. The meeting was attended by Bishops Pavly, Ilarion, Hermina, Sawirus, member of the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church.

The Monastery of the Virgin Mary and St. Tadros Al-Mashriqi in the Netherlands celebrated the feast of Prince Tadros in the presence of His Eminence Bishop Arsani of the Netherlands. Dr. Jacques van der Vliet, professor of Egyptology, delivered a lecture about the saint who was born and raised in Upper Egypt. On the second day, Bishop Arsani ordained a number of new deacons and perfumed the remains of the saints located in the monastery.

Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, issued a decision to appoint Bishop Tadros of Port Said as Papal deputy for the diocese of Sydeny, Australia. This came after a committee of 3 bishops has visited the diocese and presented a report about the situation. Moreover, Father Hanna Gad has replaced Father Tadros Samaan as deputy of the diocese. It is expected that Bishop Tadros will visit Australia after Christmas celebrations to study the pastoral, financial and administrative conditions closely and present a detailed report to His Holiness Pope Tawadros II.

Bishop Bemwa of Suez headed the New Year celebration at St. George Church in Sabah, Suez, while the prayers focused on good, love and peace for Egypt and the world. Extra security measures have been taken to secure churches at the celebration.

Police in Egypt is taking extra security measures to secure the churches on New Year s eve. A number of bomb experts also carried out a comprehensive scan of all churches and monasteries. Special forces and military police were placed in all vital places in order to deal with all potential threats and situations.

The Coptic Church in Sudan celebrated yesterday the enthronement of Bishop Sarabamoun on the Diocese of Omdurman, Atbara and North Sudan. The celebration was attended by bishop Bemen of Naqada and Qus, and Bishop Elija of Khartoum and Hossam Issa, the ambassador of Egypt in the Sudan as well as a number of the Sudanese political and social leaders.