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Last Updated: 29 April 2013

CWN - A week after they were kidnapped, two Syrian Orthodox prelates remained in captivity on April 29, with Church leaders unable to identify the kidnappers or their motives.

Meanwhile a Christian neighborhood in Aleppo, the city where the two Orthodox bishops were seized, was shelled by mortars, killing four people and destroying several houses. Melkite Catholic Archbishop Jean-Clement Jeanbart said: “The situation in the city is terrible; no one is safe.”

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Last Updated: 29 April 2013

CWN - The president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a statement lamenting the abduction of the Greek Orthodox and Syriac Orthodox archbishops of Aleppo.

“The kidnappings of two archbishops in Syria and the murder of their driver continue to weigh heavily on the hearts of people of good will,” said Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York. “We join with our Holy Father, Pope Francis, in ‘praying that they may return to their communities soon.’”

“The kidnapping of two men of peace is a sign of the terrible violence that is destroying the fabric of Syrian society,” Cardinal Dolan added. “We will continue to work through all channels with the Holy See, the diplomatic and international community and all agencies of good will. I plead for their release and for a political solution that ends the violence and protects the citizenship rights of all Syrians, including minorities.”

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Last Updated: 28 April 2013

Rabweh 27 April 2013
Protocol 196/2013R

A cloud of fear and suffering floats over the Middle East and especially Syria’s city of Aleppo, which is still awaiting, on the eve of Orthodox Palm Sunday, the release of its two missing bishops, Their Eminences Paul Yazigi, Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Aleppo and Alexandretta, and Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim, Syriac Orthodox Archbishop of Aleppo, of whom we have no news - despite constant efforts at all levels - made to secure their release.

We are in constant contact with Their Beatitudes John X and Mar Ignatios Zakka I Iwas.

During these holy days of Palm Sunday and Holy Week, we declare our solidarity with both patriarchs and our brother bishops Paul and Gregorios Yohanna, with a view to obtaining the speedy release of the two churchmen and their return to their Churches and congregations, so that everyone can joyfully celebrate their return to serving Christians and all citizens of Aleppo and dear Syria.

We ask all our faithful in all our Churches to unite in constant prayer to obtain the grace of this release and all our bishops and parish priests to read the letter for Palm Sunday of His Beatitude John X. We pray for peace and security in Syria and for it to find once more the path of dialogue and reconciliation among its citizens.

Related Link: Holy Week Pastoral Letter of His Beatitude Patriarch John X

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Last Updated: 26 April 2013

CWN - Sheik Ahmed el Tayyeb, the head of Egypt's influential Al Azhar university, will visit Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II this weekend, to convey his greetings to Egypt's Christians as they celebrate Easter (according to the Orthodox calendar).

The imam's gesture is an important indication of support for Egypt's Copts, who have endured growing animosity from militant Muslims since the "Arab Spring" uprising that led to a change in Egypt's government. Al Azhar University is the world’s leading institution of Sunni Muslim thought.

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Last Updated: 25 April 2013

Protocol 44/13

May 5, 2013

Holy Pascha
The Feast of Feasts

Now all things are filled with light;
Heaven and earth, and the nethermost regions
of the earth.  Let all creation, therefore, celebrate
the arising of Christ, whereby it is established.
(Hymn of the Canon of Pascha)

        
To the Most Reverend Hierarchs, the Reverend Priests and Deacons, the Monks and Nuns, the Presidents and Members of the Parish Councils of the Greek Orthodox Communities, the Distinguished Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Day, Afternoon, and Church Schools, the Philoptochos Sisterhoods, the Youth, the Hellenic Organizations, and the entire Greek Orthodox Family in America
 

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

On this glorious Feast of Feasts filled with the brilliant light and exhilarating joy we find in the presence of our Risen Lord, I proclaim with you,

Χριστός Ἀνέστη! Christ is Risen!  

As we gather to worship and give thanks to God for His abundant grace and the manifestation of His power in conquering death and restoring us to life, we affirm in hymn and words the universal impact of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. From the Canon of this Holy Feast and the services of the Paschal period, we proclaim, “Now all things are filled with light;” “Christ the Savior of the world…has filled all things with fragrance;” and “All things have been enlightened by His Resurrection.”

Through the power of our Lord’s Resurrection and the revelation of Him as the Source of true and eternal life, all of creation has been filled with the presence of God’s grace.  The light of the Resurrection infuses all things, and no darkness remains.  Nothing remains hidden—the consequences of sin are exposed, and the victory of the Cross is revealed.

The entire universe is also presented with the sweet fragrance of the Gospel through Jesus’ Resurrection.  It is a fragrance of life.  It is fresh and new, permeating creation with hope.  It is a balm that turns despair into anticipation, offers peace in the midst of great turmoil and tragedy, and promises renewed strength and salvation both now and for eternity.

In the light and fragrance of the Resurrection of Christ, all things are enlightened.  Truth is revealed.  The way to life is shown.  The Resurrection calls all people to see the power of Christ over death and to receive in faith the grace of God.  He has now fulfilled His promise to redeem what He created, and all people are asked to open their spiritual eyes to the ultimate power of the Cross and Resurrection.

On this blessed of days, we can clearly see and know the impact of the Resurrection and the Feast of Holy Pascha on our lives.  Through our celebration and our faith in the Risen Lord, we are filled with His divine light, and we see the truth concerning our need for redemption and salvation.  The sweet fragrance of the Gospel fills us with hope and offers healing.  In the completed and perfected victory of our Lord, we see God’s promises fulfilled.  Every part of our being, every aspect of our lives, every relationship, every thought and word encounters the Risen Lord.

As we joyfully celebrate this Feast, may we embrace the Risen Lord and bathe in the light of the Resurrection.  May we see that the power of the Resurrection has a tremendous impact on the universe, on our world, and on our lives; and may we receive the grace and life offered by Christ so that we are led out of sin and death into blessed and eternal life in His glorious presence.  I wish you, your community, and your families a wonderful and beautiful Feast filled with the light and joy of Pascha.         
With paternal love in the Risen Lord,

†DEMETRIOS

Archbishop of America

GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE OF AMERICA
8-10 East 79th St. New York, NY 10075-0106
Tel: (212) 570-3530 Fax: (212) 774-0237
Web: http://www.goarch.org  - Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Last Updated: 25 April 2013

risu.org.ua - During the trip concerning the celebration of the 1025th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus-Ukraine, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Patriarch Sviatoslav Shevchuk, and head of the Department of Foreign Relations of UGCC, Bishop Borys Gudziak, met with Patriarch Bartholomew I in his residence in Istanbul on April 20.

“In my opinion, this visit is very important and it was made on our initiative. For the Church of the ancient Constantinople is the Mother Church of all the Christians of the Kyivan tradition who received the faith in the Baptism of the holy Prince Volodymyr Equal-to-the Apostles,” commented the UGCC head.  

He stressed that the Ecumenical Patriarch today is an important moral authority both in the Orthodox world and in the Christian world in general.

The head of UGCC assured the Ecumenical Patriarch of the readiness to develop the relations with the Church of Constantinople. In particular, he spoke about the prospects of renewing the Kyiv Study Group, which included theologians and scholars of the Ukrainian Orthodox Churches of USA and Canada and of the UGCC.

“As is evident, in the last 20 years, religious circumstances in Ukraine have changed fundamentally, and, therefore, the renewal of the activity of the group on the one hand would facilitate interdenominational understanding and dialogue within the Kyivan Christianity, and on the other hand renew the dialogue and possibilities of communion between the churches, successors of the Kyivan Christianity in Ukraine and the Church of Constantinople,” concluded the head of UGCC, the Information Department of UGCC reported.