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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
Archbishop Samir Nassar was saved from death, he says, only because of a Providential trip to the restroom Jan. 8.
CNA/EWTN News
DAMASCUS, Syria — A bomb fell in the bedroom of the Maronite archbishop of Damascus last week. He was spared death, he says, only because of a Providential trip to the restroom.
Archbishop Samir Nassar related that a shell fell on his bed the afternoon of Jan. 8, when he had been taking a nap. He got up to go to the bathroom shortly before the bomb hit his room, and he said that “a few seconds at the sink saved my life!”
“Providence watches over his little servant, but now I am exiled like 12 million Syrian refugees who have nothing left,” he told Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need.
Archbishop Nassar’s cathedral was heavily damaged. He said: “The doors of the cathedral and 43 windows and doors have to be replaced, holes need to be filled, fuel tanks and water tanks need repairing, as does the electricity network.”
Bishops Ask Faithful to Aid Those from the Middle East, Ukraine
The Church in Poland actively participated in the celebration of the World Day of Migrants and Refugees on Sunday, January 14, according to Fr Pawel Rytel-Andrianik, Spokesman of The Polish Bishops’ Conference.
Fr Pawel said many of the nation’s churches celebrated mass “For Refugees and Exiles.” In addition, the Polish Bishops’ Conference appealed to the faithful to engage in specific assistance to migrants from the Middle East and Ukraine. There are 1.5 Million Ukrainian refugees living in Poland.
During the press conference in the seat of the Polish Bishops’ Conference on January 15, Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki, President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, recalled the words of Pope Francis and the teaching of the Church, according to which, every migrant should be respected but he should also respect the country to which he comes. He stressed also the keywords of the Message of the Pope for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees: “welcoming, protecting, promoting and integrating” migrants and refugees.
Teheran (Agenzia Fides) - Twenty-four year old Ani-Kristi Manvelian, an anesthesiologist by profession, was ordained as deaconess in the Cathedral of St. Gregory the Illuminator of Tehran last September by Archbishop Sebouh Sarkissian, the Primate of the Armenian apostolic Archdiocese of Teheran. Ani-Kristi Manvelian - reports the blog oxbridgepartners.com - is a lay person and does not belong to any female monastic congregation. Her ordination took place while the Armenian Apostolic Church has yet to formally restore the office of female diaconate. "What I have done is in conformity with the Tradition of the Church and nothing else", said Archbishop Sarkissian, whose archdiocese falls under the jurisdiction of the Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia of the Armenians. The Archbishop also stated that his decision was to "revitalise the participation of women also in our church’s liturgical life".
Among the Eastern Churches, also the Synod of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria in Egypt, in November 2016 (see Fides 19/11/2016) had decided to restore the institute of female deacons, and had appointed a commission of Bishops "for a thorough examination of the matter".
The discussion on the possibility of restoring female deacons and on the potential role of female deacons in the pastoral activities and missionary animation has been open for some time within the Chalcedon Orthodoxy theological institutions. (GV) (Agenzia Fides, 15/1/2018)
Accepting the invitation presented by His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, major archbishop of Kyiv-Halyč of the Ukrainians, on Sunday 28 January at 16.00 the Holy Father Francis will visit the Basilica of Saint Sophia in Rome and will meet with the Ukrainian Greek Catholic community.
vatican.va - The Synod of Bishops of the Syro-Malabar major archiepiscopal Church, after accepting the resignation from the pastoral care of the eparchy of Idukki of the Syro-Malabars, India, presented by H.E. Msgr. Mathew Anikuzhikattil and after receiving prior pontifical assent for the candidates to the episcopate, has elected as bishop of the same Eparchy the Rev. John Nellikunnel, currently dean of the faculty of philosophy at Saint Joseph’s Pontifical Seminary, Mangalapuzha.
Rev. John Nellikunnel
Rev. John Nellikunnel was born on 22 March 1973 in Kadaplamattom, in the eparchy of Palai. After attending Saint Joseph’s minor seminary in Kothamangalam, he took the institutional courses in philosophy and theology at the Saint Thomas Apostolic Seminary, Vadavathoor. He was ordained a priest on 30 December 1998, and he then exercised his ministry in various parishes. He was sent to Rome for higher studies, obtaining a licentiate and doctorate in philosophy at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas. Returning home, he held the following offices: eparchial chancellor, secretary to the bishop, director of catechesis and the biblical apostolate, and professor and subsequently dean of the faculty of philosophy at Saint Joseph’s Pontifical Seminary, Mangalapuzha.
www.churchinneed.org - IN MOSUL, Iraq’s second largest city, Christmas bells rang out again this year for the first time in four years. During the preceding years this once so familiar sound had no longer been heard. Now, thanks to the ouster of ISIS from the city, Christians were able to celebrate Christmas Mass in the church of Mar Boulus (Saint Paul) in the Al-Mundshen suburb of Mosul.
However, the joyful event almost didn’t happen. Right up until Christmas it had been nearly impossible for Christians to clean their church in Mosul. But then a group of young Muslims took the initiative, helping with the clean-up and even re-erecting the cross; in a sign of reconciliation, the Muslims also invited all Christians in the region to celebrate Christmas in Mosul.
Ranking prelates from various Churches celebrated the liturgy in Mosul especially for 400 displaced Christian families. The proceedings were led by Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako and Bishop Shlemun Warduni of Babylon, Shlemun Warduni—both Chaldeans); the Syriac Catholic Archbishop Youhanna Moutros Moshe of Mosul, and the Syriac Orthodox Bishop Nicodemus Daoud Matti Sharaf. Also among the guests of honor were the presidents of the universities of Mosul und Nineveh.
While most displaced Christians from Mosul are still living in Kurdistan, the first 60 families have recently decided to return to Mosul, reported Patriarch Sako. “The efforts of the Churches to recreate a stable and peaceful environment for the local population have borne further fruit,” said Father Andrzej Halemba, who oversees Middle East projects for our organization.
“Let us hope that the light of Jesus may shine in people’s hearts and bring light to our wounded world,” said the Dominican Father Najeeb Michaeel, who referred to this special Christmas service as one of the absolute highlights of recent months.
In 2003, there were some 1.3 million Christians in Iraq, accounting for approximately 8% of the total population. Today their number has fallen to only around 250,000, representing less than 1% of the population. Until recently there were no Christians left in Mosul, since they were all forced to flee when ISIS captured the city in June 2014.
Our organization is currently working to encourage Christians to return to their former homes in Iraq. With a campaign entitled “return to the roots,” ACN is closely involved in an extensive program to rebuild the homes and churches of the uprooted Christians from the Nineveh Plains region, not far from the city of Mosul. Already a third of the Christian exiles have now returned to their homes on the Nineveh Plains. In its Christmas appeal ACN is continuing to call for donations to make possible the resettlement of Iraqi Christians in their ancient homeland. —Karla Sponar
