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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
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CWN - In a recent homily at his cathedral in Kiev, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church paid tribute to Pope Francis for his concern for strife-torn Ukraine.
“We feel that the Pope does not just bless us from afar, he loves us, prays for us, suffers and sympathizes, he is the voice of suffering Ukraine before the powers that be,” Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk preached during a weeklong visit from the Prefect of Congregation for the Eastern Churches.
The Ukrainian prelate added, “At a time when the war in Ukraine becomes a forgotten, suppressed war, the Holy Father raises his apostolic voice and awakens the mind and conscience of Christians in Europe and the whole world.”
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CWN - The Maronite Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic church in full communion with the Holy See, will commemorate a Day of the Martyrs of the Eastern Churches on July 31.
The Encyclopedia of Martyrs of the Eastern Churches by Father Elias Khalil will be released in Dimane, Lebanon, the preceding day.
The initiative is part of the Maronite Catholic Church’s Year of Martyrdom and Martyrs, which concludes in March 2018.
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CWN - Maronite Catholic Patriarch Bechara Rai has warned that the presence of 2 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon is straining the fabric of that country.
“Even with all our solidarity with the refugees, the Lebanese hope that the process to guarantee them a safe return to their country,” the Patriarch said.
Peraching as a Mass attended by Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun, the Maronite Patriarch praised the “good intentions” of the government in welcoming refugees, but observed that the costs of providing for the refugees have fallen on the people of Lebanon, causing economic difficulties and prodding many of the country’s own residents to emigrate.
The Maronite prelate—Lebanon’s primary Christian leader—spoke out at a time when the Lebanese military has begun security operations in refugee camps, hoping to neutralize militant Syrian factions that have begun to organize and arm themselves within the camps.
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CWN - Coptic Christians in Egypt have scaled back plans for public events because of security fears, after being warned that authorities fear new attacks by Islamic extremist groups.
The Christian leaders revised their plans for summer events after a meeting with Egyptian military and security officials. At that meeting, the government officials discussed plans for setting up security at churches and other Christian institutions during major celebrations.
A spokesman for the Coptic Evangelical Church told the AsiaNews service that government officials “have informed us about the discovery of attack plans.” In response, church officials have postponed plans for conferences and summer programs. Regular worship services will be held on schedule, the spokesman said. The Coptic Orthodox Church has made similar adjustments.
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CWN - A joint Orthodox-Catholic commission studying the life of Blessed Aloysius Stepinac (1898-1960) held its sixth and final meeting at Domus Sanctae Marthae on July 12 and 13.
The joint commission was established in 2016 to study questions about the conduct of Cardinal Stepinac during and immediately after World War II, as well as his ties with Croatian nationalist groups that had fascist connections. An avowed enemy of Communism, the cardinal was convicted of treason in a show trial and sentenced to a 16-year prison term. He was beatified as a martyr by Pope St. John Paul II in 1998.
Father Bernard Ardura, the president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences, presided over the commission, which was composed mostly of Catholic and Orthodox bishops.
In a joint statement issued July 13, the members of the commission expressed gratitude for “the magnanimity of Pope Francis,” the “cordial climate,” and the full “liberty of speech” that characterized their discussions.
Recognizing that any decision to canonize Blessed Stepinac rests exclusively with the Pope, the commission members acknowledged continued disagreements:
Various events, interventions, writings, silences and positions are still subject to various interpretations. In the case of Cardinal Stepinac, the predominant interpretations given respectively by Croatian Catholics and Serbian Orthodox still remain divergent.
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- Comunicato congiunto della Commissione mista di Esperti croati cattolici e serbi ortodossi per una rilettura in comune della figura del Cardinale Alojzije Stepinac, Arcivescovo di Zagabria, 13.07.2017 (Holy See Press Office)
- Joint Orthodox-Catholic commission begins study on Cardinal Stepanic (CWN, 7/13/16)
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CWN - Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II has promised that 5% of all church employment will be reserved for people with disabilities.
The new policy applies to Coptic schools, health-care facilities, and other church institutions.
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