News

Details

Last Updated: 27 May 2015

CWN - Syrian government forces, aided by Assyrian and Kurdish militias, have regained control of 35 predominantly Christian villages in northeastern Syria, according to a report from the Assyrian International News Agency.

The Islamic State, which took control of the area in February, destroyed most of the villages, according the report. The extremist group has released over two dozen hostages taken at that time but still holds over 200 in captivity.

At present, the Islamic State controls half of Syrian territory and one-quarter of Iraq.

Details

Last Updated: 26 May 2015

CWN - Syrian Catholic Patriarch Igance Youssif III has called upon the faithful to fast and pray for the safe release of two clerics who were kidnapped last week by rebel forces.

In a message read at all the Syrian Catholic parishes around the world, the Patriarch asked prayers for the safety of Father Jacques Murad and Deacon Boutros Hanna. There has been no news about their status since they were abducted.

Details

Last Updated: 24 May 2015

Major Catechetical Teaching Points

1. Cultural development sometimes veers away from Christian thinking: Funerals are not about memories and reminiscences of the departed, but rather focus on the reality of their present life in Christ and prayers for their “good defense before the awesome Judgment Seat of Christ.”
2. Encourage the faithful to notify clergy of someone’s illness so that prayers for the sick may be offered. The mystery of Holy Unction is not just for one who is dying, but a healing remedy for the living.
3. Funeral Services: Trisagion at the Funeral Home, Funeral in church, Graveside Prayers.

Details

Last Updated: 23 May 2015

CWN - A Catholic monk has been kidnapped from a monastery in Qaryatayn, Syria.

Father Jacques Mourad, the prior of the Mar Elias monastery, was seized by armed men representing an Islamic rebel group. The monastery is branch of a monastic community that was re-established by the Italian Jesuit missionary, Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, who was himself kidnapped in July 2013 and is still missing.

Father Mourad had recently expressed concern about jihadist activity in the vicinity of the monastery, which is located near the city of Homs, a possible target for the rebels. During the past week the monastery had welcomed many refugees from Palmyra, a city being overrun by the Islamic State.

Details

Last Updated: 21 May 2015

CWN - At a recent meeting in Greece, the official ecumenical dialogue between the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the Eastern Orthodox churches announced that a joint commemoration of the Protestant Reformation’s 500th anniversary will be held in 2017.

A joint statement on ordained ministry is also scheduled to be released that year, though the LWF’s assistant general secretary acknowledged that “the topic of ordained ministry, or priesthood as the Orthodox frame it, is a challenging one.”

Details

Last Updated: 20 May 2015

CWN - The Chinese government has allowed the ordination of Russian Orthodox priests, for the first time in 60 years, the AsiaNews service reports.

Metropolitan Hilarion, who heads the external-affairs department of the Moscow patriarchate, announced the ordinations after his return from a visit to China. His trip came shortly after Chinese President Xi Jinping traveled to Moscow, meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Orthodox Patriarch Kirill.

Metropolitan Hilarion reported “very constructive talks” with government officials in Beijing, adding that China is a society that properly values the “role of culture, traditions and the moral factor in shaping the lives of people and individuals."

China’s support for the Russian Orthodox Church is a sign of the warming of relations between Moscow and Beijing, at a time when Russia is increasingly at odds with the West.