His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of Saint Mark See, congratulated the people on the occasion of the Coptic New Year that begins on Friday 1 Tut, in the year 1737 for the martyrs. His Holiness said during the weekly Wednesday sermon in the Church of the Virgin and Saint Bishoy at St. Mark s Cathedral in Abbassia that the martyrs calendar in the Egyptian Orthodox Church is an extension of the agricultural year and the ancient Egyptian year, which existed since the time of the Pharaohs. He added that the calendar began in the year 284 AD, and the Copts chose this date because it witnessed the reign of Emperor Diocletian whose time was one of the worst times in the persecution of Christians.

Endowments ministry announced that 130 new mosques will be opened next Friday. 34 mosques were implemented by the Ministry of Endowments, and 96 mosques were self-exerted under its supervision. This comes within the framework of the Ministry of Endowments plan to open 314 mosques during the months of September and October 2020.

The Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Helwan decided to reduce the number of Holy Masses celebrated due to low turnout. In a statement, the Holy Masses of Monday and Wednesday were canceled starting from 14 September. The church added that people registered in these liturgies are invited to register in the other Holy Masses celebrated across the week.

HE Abba Mark, Bishop of Paris, held a meeting with the priests to discuss the situation of the diocese under Corona virus. The meeting applied the precautionary measures taken to prevent the spread of the virus.

The Cathedral of St. Mark the Apostle in Kuwait has started accepting a new batch in the Institute of Welfare and Education for the academic year 2020-2021. The institute announced that applicants need to be a graduate of a university or higher institute and needs to contact the church no later than October 31, 2020.

The northern Orthodox Churches of Shubra celebrated the martyrdom of Saints Benjamin and his sister s Oudexia. Their parents were pious Christians who served strangers. When Benjamin grew up, he longed to be martyred for the name of Christ, so he went to Shatanouf and confessed his Christian faith before the governor of the Messiah, so he tortured him a lot, then put him in prison. When his sister knew about him, she told him she won t leave him till death. She confessed her Christian faith and was tortured and imprisoned in a dark place for twenty days before she was drowned with her brother. God saved them, but they returned to the governor confessing their faith and he beheaded them.

The Diocese of Minya and Abu Qurqas announced that Bishop Makarios of the diocese will continue to hold online weekly meeting with the people. This comes to avoid gatherings due to the outbreak of the Corona virus, which caused the closure of churches and monasteries.

Dr. Khaled Al-Anani, Egypt s Minister of Tourism, arrived yesterday in Poland to open the exhibition "Kings of the Sun". During the visit he promotes tourism between the two countries and discuss ways to enhance cooperation in the tourism sector.

Yola John Rovier, 16 year old, won first place at the Global Coptic Day competitions held in the United States of America. The girl has presented a research about St. Verena, who came from the same village of Garagous, Qus diocese.

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark See, met today with His Eminence Anba Anthony, Bishop of the Holy See of Jerusalem, accompanied by the monk Timon Al-Suriani, delegated to serve at the Coptic Church in Beirut, Lebanon. The meeting was also attended by Father Philopateer Nasr, priest of the Jerusalem League in Cairo.

Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research held an online meeting today with about 140 Egyptian professors and researchers belonging to more than 80 universities and research centers in the prestigious American universities and research centers. During the meeting, they discussed new international private universities in Egypt that reached 32 university receiving all support from the government. Many Egyptian scientists in the United States of America announced their willingness to participate in teaching in new universities through distance teaching, or by attending for short periods of time to Egypt, or even for Full academic year or to supervise joint research project

A Coptic family in the village of Hawara Al-Maqtaa, in Fayoum was ordered to leave their home after a Christian man accidentally hit a little Muslim girl by his car. The mayor of the village held a customary reconciliation session and ordered the Christian family to leave their home, which raised the anger of the Christians in the village. For his part, Bishop Abram of Fayoum told Copts United that the mayors interference in this way is wrong since he didnt show the due respect for the law, especially as the matter is still under investigation.

The sun stands on the altar of the virgin Mary on her feast in Sahragt Kobra city on the feast of her Assumption into Heaven. The Holy Mass was celebrated by Anba Salib, Bishop of Mitt Ghamr and the clergy of the church, while taking all precautions to curb the Corona virus.

Archangel Monastery in Naqaloun Mount issued an electronic dictionary of the Coptic language. The application translates Coptic old language into Arabic and was prepared by monks of the monastery and works on Android and IOS systems.

Over the past month, more than 700 restaurants have received the health safety certificate required for reoperation after verifying they have followed the health guidelines laid out by the Egyptian government and the World Health Organization (WHO), Egypt’s tourism and antiquities minister said yesterday. Mr. Abdel-Fattah Al-Assi, Assistant Minister for Control of Tourist and Hotel Establishments, indicated that the inspection committees have so far inspected 1000 restaurants and cafeterias in the various governorates, 700 of them obtained the certificate, and the rest will be passed on to them again after they have completed all the procedures required to obtain the certificate.

Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced that three Coptic monasteries were reopened in Naqada after restoration city in Qena governorate after completing their restoration works assuring they represent a distinct model of the architecture of the Coptic monasteries in southern Upper Egypt. Dr. Osama Talaat Head of the Islamic, Coptic and Jewish Antiquities Sector in the Supreme Council of Antiquities, and Bishop Beman of Naqada and Qus, opened the Monastery of the Archangel Michael, the Monastery of Anba Basantos and the Monastery of St. George in Naqada.

His Eminence Bishop Abraam of Fayoum, headed today the ordination ceremony of two new monks in the Monastery of Archangel Gabriel in Mount El-Nakhloun in Fayoum and eight other monks for the monastery of St. Macarius of Alexandria in the wilderness of Al-Rayyan in Fayoum. The ordination came after passing the prescribed period of monastic probation, and the new monks are: monk Ibsakhairoun al-Naqluni, monk Agathon al-Naqluni, monk Tobia of Saint Macarius, monk Theophilus of Saint Macarius, monk Ezekiel of Saint Macarius, monk Sila of Saint Macarius, Monk Paula of Saint Macarius, Monk Sharobim of Saint Macarius, Monk Damian of Saint Makarios, and Monk Bishoy of Saint Macarius.

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of Saint Mark See, will celebrate the Mass of the feast of the Virgin Mary next Friday at the monastery of St. Bishoy in the desert of Wadil Natrun. The Egyptian Orthodox Church announced that it will conclude the fast of the Virgin Mary, Friday, August 22.

Bishop Gawargious of Matay inaugurated the baptism of the Church of St. George in Matay after it was rebuilt. The baptism was destroyed in fire erupted couple of years ago on the night of the Resurrection Feas

The diocese of October 6 started a spiritual renaissance of the fasting of the Virgin Mary. Bishop Joseph of Texas will deliver an online sermon at the spiritual renaissance. The event is held online due to the spread of Corona virus.

Coptic Orthodox Church signed a cooperation protocol with the Federation of Navigation Sports of the Ministry of Youth and Sports aiming at reviving the navigation route of the Holy Family in Egypt. Father Poulos Halim, spokesman for the Coptic Orthodox Church, said that the text of the protocol contains a number of provisions, most notably the inclusion of sports navigation in the competitions of the Saint Mark Evangelism Festival.