Christian world

A Statement Issued by the Patriarchates of Antioch and all the East for the Greek Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, and Greek-Melkite Catholic Damascus

A Statement Issued by the Patriarchates of Antioch and all the East for the Greek Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, and Greek-Melkite Catholic

Damascus, 14 April 2018  

God is with us; Understand all ye nations and submit yourselves!

We, the Patriarchs: John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, Ignatius Aphrem II, Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, and Joseph Absi, Melkite-Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, Alexandria, and Jerusalem, condemn and denounce the brutal aggression that took place this morning against our precious country Syria by the USA, France and the UK, under the allegations that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons. We raise our voices to affirm the following:

Patriarchs of Antioch Meet in Damascus

His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II visited His Beatitude Greek Orthodox Patriarch John X at the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Damascus. During their meeting, His Holiness conveyed to His Beatitude Easter greetings and discussed several church issues.

Tens of Thousands of Iraqi Christians Still Living in Fear in Refugee Camps

Tens of thousands of Iraqi Christians who have fled their homes in the Nineveh Valley in northern Iraq are still living in refugee camps, and many of them are afraid to return to their hometowns, the Secretary for Inter-Christian Relations for the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate Hieromonk Stefan (Igumnov) related at a recent Russia Today press conference.

Washington DC: Bells tolls for Martin Luther King at National Catholic Shrine

Today, April 4th at 7.05pm (EDT), the US Conference of Catholic Bishops will join in solidarity with the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in remembering the Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr, by tolling the Shrine's bells 39 times to honour the number of years Dr. King lived on earth.

At that time, the USCCB and the Shrine will join with numerous other churches and schools across the nation tolling bells in homage to Dr King's legacy and his many contributions including the principle of non-violent resistance. The moment is also an opportunity for us to pause and reflect individually on what we are doing to build the culture of love, respect and peace to which the Gospel calls us and to also ask ourselves how we seek to help our brothers and sisters still suffering under the weight of racism.

Anies attends Easter service at Monas

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan and a congregation of thousands attended an Easter celebration at the National Monument (Monas) in Central Jakarta on Sunday morning.

Anies came to the event, which was held by an Indonesian Bethel Church congregation, at around 6 a.m., during which the congregation sang before preacher Gilbert Lumoindong gave a sermon.

Armenians in Jerusalem celebrate solemnly the feast day of the Presentation of the Mother of God

This Sunday, April 1 2018, we celebrate Palm Easter, remembering when our Lord entered Jerusalem.In the Gospel of Matthew we read that our Lord send two of His disciples to a village to acquire a donkey and its colt. So He entered the city of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, exactly as the prophet Zechariah prophesied:

Palm Sunday celebrations mark revival of life in Qaraqosh

For many Christian families in Qaraqosh, this Easter is particularly special, as they will be celebrating it at home for the first time since fleeing the city in 2014.

The city, located in northern Iraq’s Nineveh Plains, was occupied by the Islamic State group for over three years before its liberation in October 2017.