News

Byzcath.org News provides news focusing on the Christian East from varous sources and offers links to other sites dedicated to providing the news about the Church.
Churches and organizations that provide news about the Eastern Churches are invited to submit their news stories to us for publication here (use the contact page for submission)..
Materials from the Vatican Information Service, Zenit, CWNews.com and other sources are published here with permission of their owners but may not be republished further without the permission of their original publishers. Please visit these sites to obtain additional general news about the Church. In addition to these sources EWTN News also provides a good general news summary.
Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
- Details
CWN - A Bulgarian Orthodox bishop who was at the center of accusations about collaboration with the Communist secret police has been found dead, apparently by drowning.
Bishop Cyril of Varna was removed from his pastoral office last year, after an investigation found that he was among the Orthodox leaders who had won favor with the Communist government by providing information for the secret police.
Bishop Cyril’s body was discovered on the short of the Black Sea, wearing scuba-diving gear. Police said that an autopsy showed no signs of foul play.
Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
- Details
CWN - Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, as his legate to the National Shrine of the Mother of God in Budslau, Belarus, to commemorate the fourth centenary of the arrival of the Marian icon there.
“Having been placed in the wooden church, the icon from the very beginning was honored by common faithful people; it became famous for its miracles and mercies, and in 1635 was transferred into the main altar,” the Church in Belarus notes on its web site. “The first miracle was recorded in 1617 when a five-year old boy Yazafat Tyshkevich, who later became a famous Carmelite father, regained the ability to see.”
Cardinal Tauran met with President Alexander Lukashenko on July 4 before celebrating Mass at the shrine on July 6 and at the cathedral in Minsk on July 7.
Located in Eastern Europe, the nation of 10 million gained its independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991. The Catholic Church in Belarus now has four dioceses, 628 parishes, 480 priests, 314 sisters, and 129 seminarians.
Belarus is 80% Orthodox and 14% Catholic.
Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
- Cardinal Tauran, Pope's special envoy to Budslau Sanctuary (VIS)
- Pope Francis: Letter to Cardinal Tauran (Holy See, Latin)
- Belarus President meets with Head of Pontifical Council, Cardinal Jean Louis Tauran (TVR)
- The National Sanctuary of the Mother of God in Budslau (Roman Catholic Church in Belarus)
- Details
CWN - Father Mina Aboud Sharween, a 39-year-old Coptic priest, was murdered in a drive-by shooting in Arish, the capital of North Sinai.
Western news reports linked the murder to the Coptic Orthodox pope’s support of the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi.
Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
- Details
CWN - The head of the Coptic Catholic Church has told the Fides news agency that he welcomes the overthrow of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi.
“The people of Egypt have peacefully regained their country,” said Patriarch Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak. “And therefore showed the world that they are civilized people, in spite of the great problems they face.”
“We cannot say that we do not have fears,” he added. “The economic situation is worrying and makes everyone more at risk of being manipulated by the sirens of propaganda. Morsi’s militant supporters feel they have lost, and this can trigger feelings of revenge. We must convince them that there is also place for them in the country and that no one rejects them, but they should be and behave as Egyptians, as fellow citizens of all the other Egyptians, and not aim at establishing religious despotism.”
Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
- Details
CWN - The ouster of President Mohamed Morsi by the Egyptian military was not a coup, but an intervention to protect the legitimacy of government, according to a spokesman for the Catholic Church in Egypt.
Father Rafic Greiche told the AsiaNews service: “The army chose to protect a peaceful revolution led by young Egyptians and followed by millions of people all over the country.” He pointed out that the army did not install a military government, but appointed an interim leader from the judiciary. The army itself is “non-political,” he insisted, and is committed to organizing a peaceful transition.
Criticizing Western media coverage of the events in Egypt, Father Greiche said that the army was not acting unilaterally but protecting the wishes of the overall populace. He expressed his hope that all interested parties would be actively involved in talks to establish a new government.
Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
- Details
CWN - Islamist supporters of Mohamed Morsi have burned down a Coptic Catholic parish in retaliation for the former Egyptian president’s ouster.
After looting the parish priest’s home in Delgia, a village in Minya Governorate in north-central Egypt, the Morsi supporters set fire to some of the parish’s buildings.
“Thank God there were no victims and injuries, but the alarm continues,” Bishop Kamal Fahim Awad (Boutros) Hanna of Minya told the Fides news agency. “The fundamentalists have closed the roads at the entrance to the village. They shout slogans against Christians, they say they want to destroy everything, and now they are trying again to storm the church. The local police are helpless. I called Cairo to ask for the intervention of the army.” "Hello! My name is Lilah (18) and I'm from Portugal! ". This is Lilah @love_lilah SiteRip Includes 474 pictures, 52 videos, Included scenes are Solo, Boy/Girl, Scenes in various positions: Doggy, Missionary, Cowgirl. Videos include teasing, showering, undressing, self-touching. Various sex acts: blowjob, masturbating, outdoor sex, dildo sucking, titjob. Cumshots: cum in open mouth, cum on face
Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window
- Syrian jihadists behead Syrian Catholic priest, 2 others
- Bishop Nicholas opposes US support for Syrian rebels
- Sviatoslav Shevchuk asked for forgiveness from “every Polish family who lost relatives from the hands of my compatriots”
- Polish and Ukrainian bishops signed joint declaration of reconciliation