Balamand, Lebanon, March 22, 2023

As part of the brotherly visit conducted by His Beatitude, Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Ieronymos II, to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and all the East after the earthquake that struck the region, their Beatitudes Patriarch John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and Archbishop Ieronymos II, performed the Great Compline service at the Patriarchal Monastery of Our Lady of Balamand. The Prayer was attended from the Greek side by His Eminence Symeon Metropolitan of Fthiotida, Archdeacon John, Mr. Kostas Themitsas, Director of the "Apostoli" organization, and the media team. From the Antiochian side, Their Eminences Metropolitan Elias Kfoury (Sidon and Tyre), Metropolitan Silouan Moussi (Mount Lebanon), Metropolitan Ephrem Kyriakos (Tripoli and Koura), Metropolitan Ephraim Maalouli (Aleppo), and Bishops Demetri Charback, Arsanios Dahdal, and Moses al-Khosi attended the prayer. Her Excellency the Greek Ambassador to Beirut, Madam Catherine Fountoulaki, and many officials and members of the Balamand family and the faithful people were also present.

JERUSALEM - On Tuesday, March 21st, 2023, on the Solemnity of the Transitus of Saint Benedict, the Dormition Abbey consecrated its new altar. The Mass was presided over by Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, president of DVHL[1], and was concelebrated by Mgr William Shomali, General Vicar, Mgr Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo, bishop emeritus, Abbot Nikodemus C. Schnabel, osb, the newly elected abbot of the Dormition Abbey and Tabgha, as well as several other bishops and priests representing other churches in Jerusalem.

“It is a joyful day for us here in Jerusalem, as we dedicate this newly restored altar after two years of works. The Dormition Abbey is a place of prayer amid a city yearning to find its vocation of peace. The prayers of the Benedictine monks who live on Mount Zion play a great role in accomplishing this peace. We know this from ‘the prayer for the peace of Jerusalem’ found in Psalm 122, verse 7: ‘May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels’. These words hold a lot of meaning as we recite them from this place,” said Mgr Shomali, who concelebrated the celebration on behalf of His Beatitude Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.

in the Church of the Holy Cross in Damascus

Their Beatitudes, the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Ieronymos II, and the Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, John X, held, on Wednesday 21 March 2023, the service of the Great Compline in the Church of the Holy Cross in Damascus. The prayer was attended from the Greek side by His Eminence Symeon, Metropolitan of Fthiotida, Archdeacon John, Mr. Kostas Themitsas, Director of the "Apostoli" organization, and the media team. From the Antiochian side, Their Eminences Metropolitan Saba Esber (New York and North America), Metropolitan Basilios Mansour (Akkar), Metropolitan Ephrem Maalouli (Aleppo), and Bishops Moussa Al-Khoury, Youhanna Batach, and Moses al-Khosi attended the Prayer.

On March 20, 2023, His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and Supreme Head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church, inaugurated a spiritual retreat entitled “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth”. (Psalm 145: 18)”, for their Eminences the Archbishops of the Archdioceses in Syria and Lebanon, at Mor Aphrem Monastery in Maarat Saydnaya.

At the beginning of the retreat, His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II welcomed their Eminences, and spoke about the need for spiritual renewal in our ministry and witness to the Lord. He asked the Lord to be near the shepherds abd stewards of the Church and guide them through the different challenges that they face.

His Beatitude Ieronymos II, Archbishop of Athens and All Greece

His Beatitude Patriarch John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, received His Beatitude Ieronymos II, Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, and his accompanying delegation: His Eminence Symeon Metropolitan of Fthiotida, Archdeacon John, and Mr. Kostas Themitsas, Director of the "Apostoli" organization, on the occasion of the brotherly visit of the Archbishop to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, after the earthquake that struck the region.

Alongside His Beatitude Patriarch John X, the following were present: Their Eminences, Metropolitan Elias Aude (Beirut), Metropolitan Saba Esber (New York and North America), Metropolitan Silouan Moussi (Mount Lebanon), Bishop Moses al-Khosi, Archimandrite Georges Yaacub (Oikonomos of Our Lady of Balamand Monastery), and Archimandrite Gerasimus Kabbas.

On Sunday March 19, 2023, His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, consecrated the Church of Queen Helena in Maadi, Egypt, that is affiliated to the Maadi Diocese. His Holiness gifted some relics of Queen Helena to the consecrated church.

Upon his arrival at the church, His Holiness removed the curtain from the commemorative plaque that dates its consecration. Commemorative photos were taken of His Holiness next to the plaque, along with His Eminence Bishop Daniel, Metropolitan of Maadi, the Secretary of the Holy Synod, and the priests of the consecrated church.

Then, the procession of His Holiness Pope Tawadros II went inside the church to begin the consecration Prayers. An altar was consecrated in the church on the first floor, named after Queen Helena, and another altar in the church on the ground floor, named after the Virgin Mary, as well as the eastern part of the altar , the iconostasis, and the icons in both churches.

On Sunday, March 6/19 2023, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem celebrated the Sunday of the Adoration of the Holy Cross, for the gaining of strength and help in order to continue the Great Lent which is already halfway toward the Holy Pascha.

This feast was celebrated according to the Status Quo. On Saturday afternoon the 9th hour was read at the Holy Church of Saints Constantine and Helen and then the Brotherhood went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The members of the Holy Synod venerated the Deposition Slate, the Holy Sepulchre and the Horrendous Golgotha and Great Vespers began at the Catholicon with the incense offering and the blessing of bread. The Service was presided over by His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, with the co-prayer of Hagiotaphite Hieromonks.

JERUSALEM - On March 18th, 2023, in the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, His Beatitude Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, presided over a Mass to mark the feast of Saint Joseph and the 90th birthday of His Beatitude Mgr Michel Sabbah, Patriarch Emeritus. 

Often called the "Patriarch and voice of the people", Mgr Sabbah served as Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem from 1987 to 2008, as the first non-Italian and Arab Palestinian to hold this position in over five centuries. Born in Nazareth, he was ordained a priest in 1955, choosing to answer God's call and to serve the Church despite the difficult times the country was then facing. Before becoming Latin Patriarch, he studied in Beirut and Paris and worked as director of the Latin Patriarchate schools and then as a teacher in Djibouti.

Budapest, March 17, 2023

At an official invitation, Hungarian President Katalin Novak met with His Beatitude Patriarch John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, His Beatitude Patriarch Youssef Al-Absi, Greek Melkite Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and Supreme Head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church.

"Tackling Deviations Within the Family"

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark delivered his weekly Sermon at Wednesday’s March 15, 2023 meeting, from the Church of the Virgin Mary and Saint Bishoy at the Papal Residence in the Abbaseya Cathedral. The sermon was broadcast on Christian satellite channels and the C.O.C channel of the Church’s media center on the Internet.

His Holiness continued on the series of “The Stations of the Great Lent Journey and Connecting It to Family Life”, and discussed part of the fourth chapter in the Gospel of our teacher St John (verses 7-18).

His Holiness referred to the topic of next Sunday, which is “the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman” (halfway through the Great Lent), and how to deal with the sinner (the deviant) in a positive way, just as the Lord Christ dealt with the isolated Samaritan woman, and took the story of the Samaritan woman as a model in regards to family and social meaning.

Who Have Completed 25 Years or More of Service in Armenian Evangelical schools

Upholding a decades-old tradition, the Armenian Evangelical Educational Council of Lebanon, under the auspices of the Central Committee of the Union of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East (UAECNE) honored its veteran teachers who have completed 25 years or more of service in Armenian Evangelical schools. The program took place on the evening of 12 March 2023 in Beirut’s First Armenian Evangelical Church.

The Chair of the Educational Council, Dr. Arda Ekmekji greeted the audience, after which the church’s pastor, the Reverend Jirair Ghazarian, read a passage from the Bible and offered a prayer. Mrs. Sossi Balian, a member of the Educational Council, presented the guest speaker of the day, Mr. Garo Hovhannesian.

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, represented by His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, along the Holy Synod and the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre, the clergy and the faithful, condemn the heinous terrorist attack that took place on Sunday 19 March 2023, morning, during the Sunday service, at the hands of two Israeli radicals, which targeted the Church of Gethsemane in Jerusalem, where the Tomb of the Virgin Mary lies. The Patriarchate also denounces the attempt to cause physical harm to His Eminence Archbishop Joachim, who was leading the service, as well as the attack on one of the priests in the Church.

(Jn 9:1-41) 

The Gospel passage of today’s Liturgy, the Fourth Sunday of Lent, gives us the event of the healing of the man born blind (Jn 9:1-41).

It’s a very long passage, and to deal with it let’s study the structure a little: we see then the first part (9:1-12) wherein the miracle itself is related; then comes the second part, the longest (Jn 1:13-34) which has as its protagonists, next to the healed blind man, the Pharisees with their attack on Jesus and their questions about the miracle that He has done; while in the third (Jn 1:35-41) Jesus meets the blind man again, and the account closes with Jesus’ judgment on those who presume to see.

In the first part, He heals the blind man; instead, in the second the Pharisees refuse to believe and they sink into an increasingly dark blindness.

JERUSALEM - On March 14th-15th, 2023, hosted by the Syriac Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate of Jerusalem, the members of ACOHL met to discuss the Synod's Continental Assembly, Caritas, as well as the two recently opened offices regarding legal and safeguarding issues for congregations and Catholic Institutions. Also discussed were various nominations within the diocese.

(Jn 4:5-42)

The readings of the Sundays of Lent, particularly those of Year A which we are living, offer us a path of growth for living as disciples. Today’s passage, together with those of the next few Sundays, constitutes a lengthy baptismal catechesis that we cannot fully appreciate. We will, therefore, limit ourselves only to a few ideas.

On the First Sunday of Lent, we were taken to the desert, where knowing our hearts have been given to us, where who we are and to whom we belong have been revealed to us. On the Second Sunday, the disciple learns on a high mountain, gradually, to listen and see Jesus, His life in the total gift of self.

On this Third Sunday, discovering which desire dwells deeply in us is given to us.

His Holiness Pope Francis sends a letter to the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, spiritual leader of Iraqi Shiites in which he recalls their fruitful meeting two years ago during the papal visit to Iraq and encourages him to promote fraternity among believers as a concrete response to today's challenges.

By Linda Bordoni

Addressing the Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani as his “dear brother”, His Holiness Pope Francis noted that it is incumbent on religious leaders of all faiths to encourage those with responsibilities in civil society to promote political actions that protect the fundamental rights of each person and promote fraternity and mutual acceptance, as a concrete response to today's challenges.

Ten years have passed since 13 March 2013, the day Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected to the See of Peter. His Holiness Pope Francis' pontificate has been marked by a passion for evangelisation and a constant journey to reform the Church to make her more missionary. A decade during which time has taken on two different dimensions: the progressive one, to initiate processes, and the circular one, to go out to meet others and return enriched in thought and heart.

On Saturday March 11, 2023, His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, consecrated St. George’s Church, Gazirat Badran, Shoubra, Egypt, which is affiliated with the Southern Shubra Churches District , after the completion of the renovations that were carried out in it.

Upon his arrival at the church, His Holiness Pope Tawadros II removed the curtain from the commemorative plaque that dates its consecration. Commemorative photos were taken of His Holiness next to the plaque, along with His Grace Bishop Makari, the general bishop of the churches of the southern Shubra sector, and the priests of the consecrated Church.

His Beatitude Patriarch John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, presided over the second Sunday of Great Lent, Sunday of Saint Gregory Palamas, on Sunday 12 March 2023, at the Church of St. George - Charki Al Tijara, Syria. During the Mass, His Beatitude gave a Homily that you can listen to and watch it in Arabic via the video, which was published on the Facebook Page of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East.

On Saturday, March 11th, 2023, His Holiness Catholicos Aram I, Catholicos of the Armenian Church, Holy See of Cilicia, departed for Greece for a Pontifical visit and will proceed to Cyprus on March 17th.

During his visits, His Holiness Catholicos Aram I will hold meetings with Diocesan and ecumenical Leaders and representatives, State officials, and local organizations.