Christian world

Meeting of SYGG-Syria with President Dr. Bashar Assad

His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II meets His Excellency Dr. Bashar Assad, President of the Syrian Arab Republic, with the participants of the Suryoyo Youth General Gathering – Syria, at the Damascus Hall in Damascus.

Churches of Ma'loula looted by militants being restored in Syria

The Ma’loula church complex, looted by Islamic militants, is being restored at an accelerated speed. One of the churches is expected to be ready for parishioners in the near future, RIA-Novosti reports.

“The most difficult was restoring the cave of St. Thekla. It suffered greatly, as did the Church of St. Elias. The specialists faced the difficult task of preserving the historical artifacts. However, some of the architectural monuments had to be built anew, because they were lost,” engineer Elias Hilal told reporters.

Churches in Europe working group of Russian-German forum ‘St. Petersburg Dialogue’ meets in Berlin

September 13, 2017 – The Churches in Europe group of the Russian-German forum of civil societies ‘St. Petersburg Dialogue’ held a working meeting in Berlin.

The meeting opened with a minute of silence in tribute for the memory of Archbishop Feofan for Berlin and Germany who passed away on September 11, 2017; the German participants presented their condolences.

Pope Francis takes his first steps in Colombia

Pope Francis has arrived in Colombia. The papal plane touched down in the military area of Bogotà’s airport just after 4pm local time, where a large delegation of Church and State authorities – including President Santos - welcomed him as he stepped onto the tarmac.

A crowd of eager Colombian faithful was also there waving flags, cheering and clapping to the rhythm of traditional music and dance while a little boy who was born in captivity – the son of former FARC hostage Clara Rojas – hugged him and handed him a handcrafted ceramic dove, symbol of peace.

Pope visits Colombia 'to support peace and promote reconciliation'

Pope Francis is set to travel to Colombia from 6 to 11 September. He will be the third Pope to visit the Latin American nation in the footsteps of Pope Paul VI in 1964 and Pope Saint John Paul II in 1986.

Francis begins his trip in the capital Bogota and also will visit the cities of Villavicencio, Medellin and Cartagena.

Коптски патријарх осветио прву цркву у Јапану

There may be three million Christians in Japan, one percent of the population. They now have a Coptic Orthodox Church among their options. Egypt’s Pope Tawadros arrived on August 26 to consecrate Japan’s first Coptic Orthodox congregation, the Church of St. Mary and St. Mark.