Bishop Paula of Tanta delivered on Friday his weekly sermon from the Church of St. Mark, Tanta, Gharbia Governorate, without the attendance of any congregation. It is worth noting that the Coptic Orthodox Church had previously agreed on a set of precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the emerging corona virus, including the closure of churches and monasteries and suspended all church actives

A number of Coptic churches in the Diaspora announced to reopen for holding Liturgy, but with strict conditions imposed to curb the spread of the emerging Coronavirus. Bishop Peter of Carolina and Kentucky and the Pontifical Vicar of Virginia Churches announced the return of the liturgy in the parish churches starting from next Saturday, but with precautionary measures, except for the Kentucky State churches that will open on May 20. For his part, Bishop Pavlos of Greece, revealed the conditions for the churches to be reopened next Sunday, explaining that the security forces are inspecting the churches to ensure that the precautionary measures are applied, and a fine of 10.500 Euro will be applied for those who violate the rules. He added that only 50people are allowed to attend the mass.

The Northern Churches of Shubra announced that it will broadcast the activities of the Festival of St. Mark for the year 2020 will be held and broadcast online. This comes after the churches have been closed and all activities were suspended due to the spread of Corona virus. St. Mark s Festival (Mahragan El-Keraza) is an opportunity for Coptic Orthodox churches to unite with one another practice spiritual activities under the patronage and leadership of Anba Moussa, Bishop of Youth.

Bishop Isaiah of Tahta and Juhina perfumed the remains of martyrs Kyriakos and Yolita at their church in Tahta. The celebration was attended by Bishop Ologious, head of St. Shenouda monastery in Suhag.

Abba Barnabas, Coptic Bishop of Turin and Rome, announced that an agreement was reached between the Italian government and the Catholic Church to partially reopen the churches. The agreement stressed the importance of social distancing and preventing closeness and contact in a definite way and included new rules of taking communion without using the same spoon, which is very similar to the Catholic church.

Coptic Orthodox Church and the monastery of St. Samuel in Minya mourned the departure of monk Archelides of St. Samuel monastery who died after suffering severe illness with cancer for about 10 years. The man served his monastery and was known for being so humble and quite serving his brothers.

Bishop Makarious of Minya visited the family of the Coptic martyr Amjad Malak, at the village of Nazlet Al-Nakhl, whose son was killed in a terrorist attack in Sinai. The bishop offered his sincere condolences and said he died defending his country and brought pride for his family.

The young calligrapher Kyrillos Albert excelled at the art of Arabic calligraphy, and started to make Muslim and Christian art that expresses unity among the Egyptians. Kyrillos said that he wishes his artwork present a message of love, unity and hope for everybody.

Coptic and Catholic churches celebrated today the Day of Love between the two churches, which falls on May 10 of each year. The celebration of this day began in 2013, with exchanges of congratulations between His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, and Pope Francis of the Vatican, with the aim of strengthening the bonds of relations between the two churches. On that occasion, Pope Tawadros received a phone call from Pope Francis, in which he expressed his love and appreciation for Egypt and the Egyptians, pointing out that he is praying for the whole world, so that God would save it from the difficult circumstances due to the Corona virus.

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, perfumed the remains of St. Mark during the celebration of the feast of St. Mark in the great Cathedral of St. Mark. The celebration was attended by few number of clergy due to the measures taken to prevent the spread of Corona virus.

Abba Pachomious, former acting Patriarch and Archbishop of Behirah, delivered his weekly sermon online about "Resurrection Force". This comes after the Coptic Orthodox Church decided to close churches and suspend all church activities to prevent the spread of Corona virus.

Bishop Isaac of Tima held his weekly meeting on Thursday evening via the live broadcast technology and broadcast it on the official page of the diocese on Facebook. He talked about how to maintain spiritual health. This comes after His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, decided to close churches and suspend all activities to prevent the spread of Corona virus.

Bishop Bemen of Naqada and Qus celebrated the feast of St. Poktor at the Cathedral of Naqada in the presence of a number of priests of the diocese without congregation. The celebration was broadcast on the official page of the diocese on Facebook. This comes as Pope Tawadros II decided to suspend all church activities to protect the congregation after the spread of Corona virus.

Mohamed Fahmy, the Lebanese Interior Minister, announced that the government is studying the reopen of houses of worship to hold Sunday masses and Friday prayers under certain conditions. He explained that the number of worshipers should not exceed 30 % of the capacity of each mosque or church, and with compliance with health conditions, and safe distances between worshippers.

Celebrates Priestly Honorable Day of Patriarch Joseph Al-Absi Books - Editor of the Copts United R In Egypt, today, Wednesday, with the commemoration of the priestly ordination of His Beatitude, Youssef El-Abssi I, the Blessed Kidney, Patriarch of Antioch and the rest of the East, Alexandria and Jerusalem for the royal Melkite Catholics. On this occasion, the Catholic Media Office in Egypt congratulated him for his welfare and wished him lasting health and the blessings of the Holy Spirit to complete his holy mission.

The Middle East Council of Churches and tele lumiere TV offered their sincere condolences to Pope Tawadros II at the departure of monk Royce of Jerusalem, priest of the Coptic church in Lebanon. This came in two messages sent to the Pope from Dr. Thoria Bashaalani, head of the Middle East Council of Churches and the management of the Tele Lumiere station. The prayers of the funeral of the late monk were held last month in Sin el-Fil in Beirut, while no official funeral was held due to the Corona virus.

The Egyptian Orthodox Church announced that Abba Barsoumof Dirout and Sanabo, headed the weekly sermon entitled “I am He’ , which was aired through the online broadcast technology. This comes after Pope Tawadros has decided to suspend all activities of the churches and to shut down churches and monasteries due to the Corona virus.

Bishop Raphael of Downtown Cairo Churches headed today the online meeting of youth at St. George’s Church in Qulali, which was broadcast on the official page of the church on Facebook. This came after Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, has decided to suspend all activities of the churches and to shut down churches and monasteries due to the spread of Corona virus.

Egyptian Ambassador to Sudan Hossam Eissa said that an Egyptian flight have arrived in Khartoum today to bring a number of stranded Egyptian nationals back home. Hossam said in statements to MENA on Friday that another plane is scheduled to arrive in Sudan next Friday to move other stranded Egyptians in the Sudan.

Bishop Andraws of Abu Tig announced the new instructions for wedding ceremonies inside the churches due to the Corona viruses. the instructions stated that only 6 people are allowed to attend the wedding ceremony in addition to a priest and a deacon.

The people of Ibwan village in Minya receive body of its Coptic martyr who was killed in the terrorist attack in Bir al-Abed incident in North Sinai. The body was moved to the cemetery of his family, and a military funeral was held for the martyrs.