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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
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CWNews.com - A dozen Christians have been sentenced to life imprisonment for their role in violence that took place in the north-central Egyptian city of Minya in April 2011. Eight Muslims were acquitted.
The Muslims had allegedly set fire to dozens of Christian homes; the Christians had reportedly shot at the attacking mob in self-defense.
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CWNews.com - “The exit of Christians from the Holy Land can be described as a real human hemorrhage,” according to the Latin-rite Catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem.
In an interview with the Zenit news agency during a trip to Italy, Archbishop Fouad Twai said that the continuing fight of Christians from the Holy Land can be attributed to “the occupation, to the political situation, to the difficult conditions of life, to the lack of work, of trust.” The situation is unlikely to improve, he said, until peace can be established in the region.
For the Christians who remain, the Patriarch said that education is a key factor in providing for a brighter future. “A person with a degree, well prepared, can guarantee to himself and to others a better future,” he reasoned. Because young people are more likely to stay in their native lands if they have decent economic prospects, Archbishop Twai said that he has taken particular satisfaction in the opening of the Catholic University of Jordan.
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CWNews.com -The Serbian Orthodox Church has decided not to extend an invitation to Pope Benedict XVI to attend celebrations marking the 1700th anniversary of the Edict of Milan, which will take place in Nis in 2013.
The celebrations in Nis, the birthplace of the Emperor Constantine, had sparked some speculation that invitations might be extended to both Pope Benedict and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill. However, a meeting of the Serbian Orthodox Synod concluded with an announcement that plans for the celebration were complete, and would not include an invitation to the Roman Pontiff.
According to the Serbian news agency Tanjug, the Orthodox bishops said that the Vatican had already announced that Pope Benedict would not attend the celebrations in Nis. That is inaccurate. In April the director of the Vatican press office, Father Federico Lombardi, said that the Pope had not yet made any travel plans at all for 2013. While saying that any talk of a papal visit to Nis would be speculative, the papal spokesman did not dismiss the possibility.
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Damascus - We: Ignatius IV Hazim,Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Mar Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and Gregorios III Laham, Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, of Alexandria and Jerusalem, condemn the cowardly criminal act that took place in the Qazaz district of Damascus on the morning of Thursday, 10 May 2012, and condemn all acts of terrorism that have targeted different regions of the beloved Syrian land, claiming the lives of many innocent victims and wounding both civilians and military personnel, the children of this great nation.
In view of this grievous loss, we pray to God to heal the wounds of Syria and Syrians, and to restore the children of the one homeland to one another in love, openness and reconciliation, tolerance, mutual assistance and wisdom, preferring always the interest of the country to any other interest, distancing themselves from violence in all its forms, aiming for the good of our beloved country and building it again on the basis of civilized, humane, firm justice and good citizenship, co-existence and peaceful freedom of expression; all that is related to serving the nation and citizens.
With one mouth and one heart we raise our prayer to Almighty God to give rest to the souls of the homeland’s martyrs, comfort the hearts of the bereaved, preserve Syria and bring it to a haven of safety, peace, sovereignty and prosperity. In a spirit of pastoral responsibility we call on all the children of this country, both Muslims and Christians, to join us in prayer to Almighty God to protect Syrians from all danger and harm, trusting in the Lord’s saying to us: “Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
May the name of the Lord be forever blessed. Amen.
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KEVELAER. On Pentecost weekend Kevelaer will be dominated by the "international pilgrimage" of the Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem, in short, the Lazarus Order. At the invitation of the Grand Master of the global order, HE Don Carlos Gereda de Borbón, Marquis d'Almazàn, and the Spiritual Protector, His Beatitude Patriarch Gregorios III of Damascus, some 200 members of the Ecumenical Order will be meeting from 24 to 27 May in the Marian town. Whether from Malta, the headquarters of the Order, or from Ireland, whether from Germany, Finland, Spain, Nigeria, Canada or the United States - the members, Knights and Ladies from more than 20 nations, are also using the pilgrimage for various Lazarus Order events. The tourist office of Kevelaer and district is the contact for the individual applications of international visitors and will be serving as a registration office on guests' arrival. The highpoint of the pilgrimage of the Order of St. Lazarus will be the walk from Kerken-Eyll to Kevelaer on Saturday. The international pilgrimage ends with an invitation to a festive High Mass in St. Mary's Basilica on Pentecost Sunday.
Photo: About 200 members of the Order of St. Lazarus are meeting on Pentecost weekend for the "International Pilgrimage 2012" at the Kevelaer shrine.
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22.04.12
70 Knights and Ladies of the Patriarchal Order of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem in Trier
The elaborately clothed Knights and Ladies at the Divine Liturgy in the Church of Our Lady
Trier– About seventy members of the "Pariarchal Order of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem" of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, a church united with Rome, that is, in complete ecclesial communion, have been making a pilgrimage to the Holy Tunic. The Melkite Greek Catholic Church is a guardian of the Byzantine Liturgy in the Catholic Church: the members of the Order were invited together with the leader of their Church, Patriarch Gregorios III of Antioch.
Pastor Hans Wilhelm Ehlen has had to welcome numerous groups to the newly restored Church of Our Lady in Trier since its re-opening in 2011. Yet probably none of them dressed in such a colourful and ornate way as those of the Patriarchal Order of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem. The German and Belgian members of the patriarchal lay-order, which has its headquarters in Aachen, appeared in their costumes as Ladies and Knights, to celebrate a solemn Mass of the Byzantine Liturgy and tradition. The chief celebrant was the leader of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church: His Beatitude the Grand Master and Patriarch Gregorios III of Antioch.
The Grand Master Gregorios III, Patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church of Antioch and All the East (born in 1933) answered with a smile the question as to whether this was his first visit to Trier. In fact the Patriarch, resident in Damascus (Syria) is something of a Holy Tunic veteran: "I’ve known Trier since 5 August 1959, when I took part in the Pax Christi walk from Metz to Trier and the holy Tunic. Since then I’ve come back again and again."
The Undivided Robe is for him a symbol of the unity of Christendom, which symbolises the passion, but also the resurrection of Christ. Christians from West and East, the Patriarch suggests, ought to stand together, so that there is less violence – above all, especially in his homeland of Syria. "Alas, the situation is very tense there. Syrians should be able to look to the future together. That is why I tell Europe: help us, since you can give some people in the country more confidence and trust.. We can survive this crisis." The Patriarch and the members of the order were welcomed by Suffragan Bishop Jörg Michael Peters. The Melkite Greek Catholic Church has about two million faithful. The Order of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem carries out numerous aid projects in the Middle East, including projects of church conservation and preservation of holy sites, the construction of educational facilities and institutions of health care.
Until 13 May the Diocese of Trier invited people to make pilgrimage to the Holy Tunic in Trier. This was the first occasion since 1996 that the holy Tunic could be seen again in Trier Cathedral. The pilgrimage took place under the heading "and bring together what is separated." The holy robe, the tunic of Jesus Christ, is the most important relic of the Cathedral of Trier. Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine, is supposed to have brought it to Trier in the fourth century. Information about the Holy Robe Pilgrimage can be found on the Internet at www.heilig-rock-wallfahrt.de or at the Pilgrimage Office, Tel.: 0651-7105-8012.
Source: http://www.heilig-rock-wallfahrt.de/start/aktuelles/meldung/ein-patriarch-pilgert-zum-unzerteilten-gewand.html German translated by V. Chamberlain
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Saturday, 21. April 2012, at 10 a.m. Patriarchal Liturgy with H.B. Patriarch Gregorios III. In the Cathedral Church of our Lady, Trier
Patriarchal Liturgy with H.B. Patriarch Gregorios III. In the church of the Priests’ Seminary, Trier Jesuitengasse |
Saturday, 21. April 2012, at 10 a.m.
Patriarchal Liturgy with H.B. Patriarch Gregorios III. In the Cathedral Church of our Lady, Trier
Sunday, 22. April 2012, at 10a.m.
Patriarchal Liturgy with H.B. Patriarch Gregorios III. In the church of the Priests’ Seminary, Trier Jesuitengasse
http://www.kath.de/zentrum/termine/liturgie/feier_alle.htm
2012-04-14 Vatican Radio Christ’s Holy Tunic venerated in Trier
On Friday of Easter Week, Pope Benedict XVI’s special envoy Cardinal Marc Ouellet, presided over a ceremony opening the pilgrimage to the Holy Tunic, preserved in the Cathedral of Trier in Germany. The relic, piously believed to be the ‘seamless garment’ worn by Christ at the Passion, was exposed for the veneration of the faithful for only the fourth time in the last hundred years. According to legend, the Holy Tunic was brought to Trier – at the time, the capital of Gaul – by St. Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine.
This year’s pilgrimage marks the 500th anniversary of the first public exposition of the Tunic in the year 1512. In a message to the Bishop of Trier, Stephan Ackermann, Pope Benedict said he would be present in thought with all the pilgrims who come to venerate the relic. The Holy Father said the Tunic is a symbol of the Church, which lives “not by its own power, but through the action of God.” “This garment,” the Pope said, “is the undivided gift of the Crucified One to the Church, which He has sanctified with His blood. For this reason, the Holy Tunic reminds the Church of her dignity.” As many as half a million pilgrims were expected to visit Trier during the four weeks (April 13 – May13) when the Sacred Tunic was exposed.