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Last Updated: 29 May 2013

Bringing hope of peace for Syria

Beirut, 26 May 2013 (Apic) - Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem, Gregorios III, surrounded by bishops from Lebanon and superiors general from religious orders, received on 25 May in Beirut Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.

The conversations between the two men touched on the regional situation in general and the future of Eastern Christians, especially in Syria, Lebanon and Palestine.
 
The Patriarch reiterated his appeal for church leaders from the Holy See to include Syria in their trips in the hope of seeing peace reign there one day. He hoped that the forthcoming meetings between the Council of Eastern Catholic Patriarchs (CECP) and the Congregation for the Oriental Churches would allow the peace process and Muslim-Christian dialogue to be relaunched. He hopes too for a development of ecumenical spirit between all the region’s Churches, according to the directives of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation after the Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops promulgated by Pope Benedict XVI, during his trip to Lebanon, in September 2012.
Translation from French V. C.

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Photo: Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches and Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregorios III (photo: DR)

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Last Updated: 26 May 2013

Fairfax, Virginia – In October 2010, the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation produced a jointly-agreed document entitled “Steps Toward a Reunited Church.”  For the first time ever, members of that dialogue will give presentations and discuss the document in a public forum at the Orientale Lumen XVII Conference on June 17-20, 2013 in Washington, DC.  In addition to five members of consultation, other plenary speakers will include Metropolitan Tikhon of Washington, primate of the Orthodox Church in America, and Archimandrite Robert Taft, SJ, professor emeritus from the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome.  The moderator will be Fr. Ron Roberson, CSP, Associate Director of the Ecumenical Affairs office of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.  The plenary speakers will include:

Msgr. Paul McPartlan
     The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC
Father Thomas FitzGerald
     Hellenic College/Holy Cross Seminary, Boston, MA
Father Sidney Griffith
     The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC
Father James Dutko
     St. Michael Orthodox Church, Binghamton, NY
Sr. Susan Wood, SCL
     Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI

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Last Updated: 18 May 2013

CWN - A Syrian Catholic prelate has told the Fides news agency that “tolls” levied by rebels have increased the price of food “almost tenfold” in some areas of the country.

“The militias of the Free Syrian Army and jihadist groups make all vehicles coming from the areas of Damascus and Aleppo carrying goods pay heavy tolls,” said Archbishop Jacques Behnan Hindo of Hassaké-Nisibi. “They say that the money is used to buy weapons, they are like ‘bribes for the revolution.’ This is why now the prices of food in our cities and in our villages are almost tenfold.”

“The scourge of kidnapping is what causes major suffering for many families,” added the prelate, who said that the number of abductions in his area has surpassed 100.

“A solution can only come if international agents, starting from the United States and Russia, will be able to put in brackets the respective interests and take account of the expectations and real suffering experienced by our people,” Archbishop Hindo added.

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Last Updated: 18 May 2013

CWN - As the Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople visits Milan to celebrate the 1700th anniversary of the Edict of Milan, Pope Francis has sent a message of greeting, hailing “the historic decision that, decreeing religious freedom for Christians, opened new paths to the Gospel and decisively contributed to the birth of European civilization.”

The papal message, conveyed in a telegram to Milan’s Cardinal Angelo Scola, expressed the hope that “the common witness of Christians of the East and West, sustained by the Spirit of the Risen One, will agree to the spread of the message of salvation in Europe and the entire world and that, thanks to the foresight of civil authorities, the right to publicly express one’s faith will be respected everywhere, and that the contribution that Christianity continues to offer to culture and society in our time will be accepted without prejudice.”

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Last Updated: 18 May 2013

CWN - The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, in conjunction with the Council of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe (CCEE), is commemorating the 1700th anniversary of the Edict of Milan by hosting a conference devoted to religious freedom.

The edict, issued by Constantine, granted “to the Christians and others full authority to observe that religion which each preferred.” The conference will be moderated by Cardinal Péter Erdö of Esztergom-Budapest and Metropolitan Emmanuel, who heads an Orthodox diocese in France.

“1700 years after the Edict of Milan, Christians are still dying in the world for their adherence to Christ, while in Europe the acts of intolerance and discrimination against Christians are on the increase,” said Metropolitan Emmanuel. “So we thought it appropriate to recall the anniversary of this important Edict for the history of Europe with a seminar which will enable us to take stock of religious freedom in Europe and the world, in the knowledge that Christianity is a gift for those societies which have welcomed it.”

Keynote speakers at the conference, which will take place in Istanbul on May 17 and 18, include scholars from Yale University and the Ambrosian Library; other speakers include representatives of the Jewish and Muslim communities and the Turkish government. A Maronite Catholic archbishop will discuss the situation of Christians in the Middle East.

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Last Updated: 18 May 2013

CWN - Israel’s deputy foreign minister has issued an apology to the Coptic Orthodox Church after a Coptic priest was beaten by police during Holy Saturday observances at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

Police confronted pilgrims outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on May 4, as thousand of Christians arrived for Easter celebrations, according to the Orthodox calendar. Orthodox leaders complained that police were unduly rough as they broke up crowds along the narrow streets of the ancient city, and in one particularly shocking incident, Father Arsanios, an 85-year-old cleric, was beaten, temporarily losing consciousness. A video of the incident circulated quickly on the internet, prompting the official apology. Father Arsanios was treated at a local hospital and released.