His Holiness Pope Tawadros II offers his sincere condolences to HG Bishop Benjamin of the Diocese of Menoufia, and to the family and congregation of Father Moussa Aziz, priest of St. George Church in Ezbet Al-Copts in Monufia Diocese who died at the age of 63 after being infected with Corona virus. The late priest spend nearly 29 years of priestly service after he was ordained a priest by His Eminence Anba Binyamin Archbishop of the Diocese, on January 17, 1992.

The Egyptian cabinet agreed today to legalize the status of 62 churches and the government building. During his meeting with the main committee to legalize the status of churches, the Prime Minister discussed its recent work and agreed on the legalization of the churches. The latest decision raises the total number of legalized churches to 1800 churches and service building.

Father Poulos Halim, media spokesperson for the Coptic Orthodox Church, said that the New Year s celebrations in each church will be limited to priests of the church and 5 deacons without congregation. A number of dioceses announced that Christmas celebrations on January 7th will be canceled due to the spread of Corona virus.

Dr. Andre Zaki, the head of the Evangelical community in Egypt, called the people of the Evangelical Church to pray and fast for three days, starting from December 29 until December 31 for recovery of the world from COVID-19. He said that the year 2020 was one of the difficult years in which we have passed difficult challenges, so we will devote the last three days of this year to prayer and shouting to God to receive mercy and recovery. People are invited to hold their prayers while they stay at home.

The Diocese of Shubra al-Khaimah and its affiliates announced in a statement today a number of preventive measures to confront the emerging corona virus. The decisions included the suspension of services and holy masses starting from December 28th. This comes after the increasing number of infections and deaths in the diocese.

Coptic Orthodox Chruch mourned the departure of Father Wissa Armal, priest of the Church of the Martyr Poktor in the Diocese of Abnoub, Al-Fatah and New Assiut. The priest died at the age of 73 years after a priestly service that lasted for more than 31 years. Pope Tawadros has offered his sincere condolences in the departure of the priest to his family and congregation.

Anba Kyrollos, head of St. Mina the Miraculous monastery in Mariout, Alexandria, announced it will receive no visitors until further notice due to the spread of Corona virus. Statement of the monastery declared that families of the monks and children to be baptized will not be allowed to enter the monastery according to the new decisions.

Coptic Orthodox Church mourned Father Suriel Fahmy, priest of the Virgin Mary Church in the Eastern Abbasia. The late Fatehr spend more than 52 years in priestly service full of love and toil.

HG Anba Isaac, Bishop of Tima, inagurated two new altars in the Church of the Martyr Abu Seifin at Tal Al-Zuki of the Diocese of Tima. During the Holy Mass, 40 new deacons were ordained for the ministry in the church.

His Eminence Bishop Lucas of Abnoub and al-Fath ordained 3 new priests at the diocese. The ordination ceremony was attended by His Eminence Bishop Arsanios of the New Valley and His Eminence Bishop Bemwa of Suez.

The monastery of Saint Bishoy in Wadi Al-Natroun issued a statement to announce it will be closed before visitors due to the spread of Corona virus. The statement assured that families of the monks and all visitors will not be allowed for everyone’s safety.

The Archangel Michael Monastery in the wilderness of Al-Asas, Naqada, celebrated today the ordination of a new monk. The ordination ceremony was headed by Bishop Bemen of Naqada and head of the monastery, and Bishop Karas of al-Mahala al-Kobra.

Minister of State for Military Production, Mohamed Ahmed Morsi, said that the Egyptian state has a clear strategy to localize the auto industry in Egypt, and the current stage is witnessing an increase in the percentage of the local component in the auto industry to reach 45% to 60% during the next phase. He added that they established a factory for the production of car tires with a capacity of 7 million tires per year in cooperation with the Arab Organization for Industrialization and the Ministry of Public Enterprise Sector.

Dr. Ashraf Sobhi, Minister of Youth and Sports, praised the historic achievement of the Egyptian champion Ramy El Sebaei, famous for "Big Ramy" for winning first place in the "Mr. Olympia" 2020, which is the largest and most famous tournament in the bodybuilding game worldwide. This came after Big Ramy recovered from Corona virus infection. He said that this is a new achievement to be added to the Egyptian sport record, which is witnessing many achievements in the field of sports.

HG Bishop Sarabion, Bishop of Los Angeles, USA, confirmed that the sectarian attacks of Wardian in Alexandria requires both justice and firmness in order to avoid repeating the attacks or spreading false information. He added that the verbal attacks and insults against the priest of the neighborhood by the defendants proves the sectarian tension and extremism that led to such crime. One Coptic man was killed and two others were injured in the attack on several Copts in Warden, couple of days after attacking guess of Copts in Barsha village, Mallawy.

King Abdullah II, King of Jordan, granted the Jordanian nationality Father Anthony Sobhi Hanna, priest of the Virgin Mary Coptic Orthodox Church of Jordan. King Abdullah II of Jordan issued a royal decree several years ago to appoint Father Anthony Subhi Hanna as a judge and deputy head of the Church s Court. The Coptic Orthodox Church, in a statement, thanked the King of Jordan for all his interest and support to the Coptic Orthodox Church in Jordan.

North Cairo court sentenced 9 policemen from Ameria Police department to 3 years in prison for murdering the Coptic man Magdy McCain. The policemen were found guilty of torturing McCain to death.

HH Pope Tawadros II, delivers tomorrow his weekly sermon from St. Mark s Cathedral in Abbasiya, without congregation due to the spread of Corona virus. This comes after Holy Masses and spiritual meetings were suspended in the churches of Cairo and Alexandria.

Father Abram Emil, the representative of His Holiness Pope Tawadros in Alexandria, launched an initiative entitled ‘The Hour of Joy’ to celebrate the holy month of Koiahk at home after churches of Alexandria were closed due to the second wave of Corona virus. The praises will be broadcast online and the congregation will come together from 9 to 10.

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II received at the Papal Headquarters in Cairo this morning a medical delegation of specialists in a number of medical fields. During the meeting, they discussed some issues related to the KIMI project, which is the medical center that is being built in Obour City. His Holiness laid the foundation stone for the project in November of last year.

In a television interview, Pope Tawadros II, denied rumors about reaching an agreement with the Catholic Church. He added that there are strong ties and relations between the two churches, but there are was no agreement reached concerning baptism.