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Last Updated: 15 September 2017

christiansinpakistan.com - A Syrian priest reiterates the fact that Christians will strive to rebuild the trust that has been tainted by violence perpetrated by Islamic State. “We have to rebuild trust between Muslims and Christians even if it’s not easy,” said a Syrian priest Father Mtanios Haddad.

and rebuild trust between ourselves little by little. Even if it’s not easy.”

Also Read: Chinese Christians beaten for protection a church property from demolition

Minorities are facing a challenging aftermath of extremism and war as they have been singled out by the militants. Battered minorities claim to be citizens of their homelands who are simply not accepted in their own lands.

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Last Updated: 14 September 2017

worldwatchmonitor.org - Copts in the village of Ezbat Al-Forn, in the Minya governorate, have their church back after it was forced to close “for security reasons” last month, and celebrated this with a mass on Sunday morning (10 September) – the same day that another village church reopened elsewhere in Minya.

The first mass at the reopened Saint Mary and St Michael Coptic Orthodox church, which meets in a private home owned by the Diocese, was led by Fr Daniel Babawy with Minya police forces present to provide security for fear of reprisals from the Muslim community, as reported by Coptic news site Watani. In fact, some Muslims visited the Copts to congratulate them at the reopening of their church.

The community of 400 Coptic Christians in Ezbat Al-Forn were stopped from holding Sunday mass and banned from the premises by police on Sunday 20 August.

Police said the Copts, who were meeting in a private home, lacked a permit to use the home to practise religious rites, but the official police report shows that the decision was taken following complaints by local Muslims, after which World Watch Monitor understands the police shut the church for the Copts’ protection.

On 21 August, following the closure of their church, the Copts processed peacefully through the village streets to celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of Mary.

Click to read more at worldwatchmonitor.org.

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Last Updated: 14 September 2017

By Matt Hadro - Washington D.C., Sep 13, 2017 / 06:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Christians in the Middle East are heroic witnesses to the faith, and the U.S. must help ensure they can stay in their homelands in peace, a Maronite bishop who is a leading advocate for the region’s Christians says.

“I think the Christians there are the salt of the earth. And they really are Christ in the midst of the Middle East, with no place to lay His head,” Bishop Gregory Mansour of the Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn told CNA in an interview.

“In my mind, they’re the heroes of today. They’ve faced down ISIS, they’ve faced down evil, they’ve faced down apathy,” he said. “And it’s still these Christians who are educated, they’re gracious, they’re forgiving.”

Bishop Mansour spoke with CNA ahead of multiple planned advocacy campaigns for Christians of the Middle East.

The annual summit of the advocacy group In Defense of Christians will be held in Washington, D.C. Oct. 24-26. It will focus on “American Leadership and Securing the Future of Christians in the Middle East,” and will feature advocacy especially at the offices of members of Congress.

Special guests will include Catholicos Aram I, of the Holy See of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Patriarch Youssef Absi of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, and Patriarch Moran Mor Bechara Boutros al-Rai, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch.

In Defense of Christians has also planned an action campaign in the days leading up to the summit, where U.S. Christians can pray for persecuted Christians in the Middle East, advocate for them, and support aid organizations that serve religious minorities in the region.

Christians in the region have suffered for generations, but in recent years their plight has become especially dire. Even before the rise of Islamic State in 2014, Christians had been steadily leaving Iraq, and the Syrian civil war had already been boiling for several years.

Click to continue reading at catholicnewsagency.com.

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Last Updated: 13 September 2017

risu.org.ua - On September 12, the Vatican reported that Pope Francis approved the decision of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC to establish the Diocese of Chernivtsi. His Eminence Joshaphat (Moshchych) was appointed its first bishop.

According to the Vatican Radio, the newly formed Chernivtsi Diocese, with its seat in Chernivtsi, has been separated from the territory of the present-day Diocese of Kolomyia and Chernivtsi and has been attached to the Metropolitanate of Ivano-Frankivsk.

The Synod of the Bishops of the UGCC chose Bishop Josafat (Moshchych), the current Assistant Bishop of the Archeparchy of Ivano-Frankivsk as the first eparchial governor.

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Last Updated: 13 September 2017

risu.org.ua - The Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is planning to adopt the new Charter of the Synod. This was stated by Archbishop and Metropolitan Yevgeny (Popovich of Przemysl and Warsaw, Head of the Canonical Department of the UGCC in an interview with the Department of Information of the UGCC).

The head of the Canonical Department said that of the past year the Synod set the task to his department to supplement the legislative framework with new legal acts.

“I hope that this year we will adopt a very large legal act, which is the Charter of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC. The Synod is the largest legislative body in our Church. And the charter to be adopted will regulate all the nuances of the Synod of Bishops, including the choice of the Patriarch, filing for the episcopal office, formation of new dioceses ... It is the basic law of the Synod and the Church, as the Synod represents the whole Church,” the Bishop said.

According to him, so far the Synod also acted and is acting under the Charter, which was adopted immediately after the Church came out from the underground. “However, the Metropolitan stressed, “the life, circumstances, and even the Church are changing. Therefore, the time has come for a more comprehensive Charter. At the beginning there were eight hierarchs. And today there are fifty. We had several hundred priests, and today they are several thousand. This is proof of the development of our Church. The structure of the Church also expanded ... We needed a law that would meet the needs of the time.”

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Last Updated: 13 September 2017

Saydnaya (Agenzia Fides) - Syrian President Bashar al Assad visited the temporary seat of the Syriac Orthodox monastery of the Holy Cross, under construction, accompanied by his wife Asma and other family members. He was received by Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II together with Metropolita Mor Timotheos, the Syriac Orthodox Vicar of Damascus, and monks of the monastery. The official sources of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch report that President Assad's visit took place "a few days ago" without specifying the date. Assad and his wife, accompanied by the Patriarch, also met the children housed in the "Small Angel House", an orphanage supported by the Syriac Orthodox Church, he had lunch with them and with the monks of the monastery. In this context - inform Syriac Orthodox Church sources - the Patriarch informed the President "about the projects the Patriarchate is carrying out in the region".
In Saydnaya, a small town about 35 km from Damascus, there is also the female Greek Orthodox monastery of the Mother of God, founded in the Justinian era at the site of a Marian apparition, where an ancient Marian icon attributed to Saint Luke is kept. (GV) (Agenzia Fides, 8/9/2017)