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 - Welcoming a delegation of Orthodox prelates to Rome, Pope Francis said that the annual visits by representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate are “the sign of the profound bond that unites the Church of Constantinople with the Church of Rome.”
Each year the Patriarchate of Constantinople sends a delegation to join the Pope in celebrating the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, patrons of the Rome diocese. (In exchange the Vatican sends a delegation to Constantinople for the feast of St. Andrew, the patron of the patriarchate.) Pope Francis met with the Orthodox prelates on June 28, the eve of the feast.
Commenting on the need for ecumenical progress, the Pope said: “In our world that hungers and thirsts for truth, love, hope, peace, and unity, our witness demands that we should at last be able to proclaim, with one voice, the good news of the Gospel and celebrate together the Divine Mysteries of our new life in Christ.” Unity is a gift from God, he said, but while praying for that gift the faithful are also obligated to work toward the goal of full communion.
The Pope praised a mixed Catholic-Orthodox theological commission for its efforts, “starting from what we have in common without, however, concealing that which still separates us.” He said that this honest but respectful approach is essential to ecumenical progress. “It comforts me,” the Pope said, “knowing that Catholics and Orthodox share the same conception of dialogue that doesn't seek a theological minimalism on which to reach a compromise, but that rather is based on the deepening of the truth that Christ has given to his Church and that we, moved by the Holy Spirit, never cease to understand better.”
Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
- Details
CWN - At least 4 people have been killed in a suicide bombing outside a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus.
Authorities have not yet established the motives of the suicide bomber, but the blast occurred in a heavily Christian neighborhood. Syria’s Christian minority has come under mounting pressure as the country’s bloody civil war continues.
Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
- Details
The Coptic Orthodox Church has issued a statement of thanks to the Egyptian military for the “great role carried out by our armed forces” in preserving order in the country.
The statement from the Coptic Church reflects the reliance of the Christian minority on the Egyptian military, which remains a powerful force for stability in a country where Islamic militants are gaining political power. The statement was released in anticipation of widespread public protests against the government, scheduled for June 30, which could give rise to a new impulse of Islamic activism.
Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
- Details
CWN - A Syrian hermit was killed by gunfire at a Franciscan monastery in Syria.
Father Francois Mourad, who was a guest at St. Anthony of Padua monastery, may have been killed by an errant bullet, or he may have been deliberately shot by rebel troops who ransacked the monastery.
Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
- Details
Ain Traz - Lebanon June 17, 2013
Protocol 301/2013A
Ain Traz 16/06/2013
Speech of Patriarch Gregorios III at the opening of the Synod of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church Ain Traz - Lebanon June 17, 2013
God's word is ... a light unto my path (Psalm 118: 105 LXX)
At the beginning of this Holy Synod we thank Almighty God, in the words of St. Paul in his Letter to the Ephesians: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: that we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ." (Ephesians 1: 3-12)
- Details
New Book Announcement
#E84 Practice on the Spiritual Way of the Divine Liturgy by Patriarch Gregorios III
English translation of the clergy retreat given by His Beatitude in Kevelaer, Germany in 1998
150 pages with icons
Published by Eastern Christian Publications
Fairfax, Virginia USA
www.ecpubs.com
ISBN: 978-1-940219-03-5
Price: $15.00 USD
https://secure.webvalence.com/ecommerce/kiosk.lasso?merchant=ecpubs&kiosk=books&class=ecp