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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
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CWN - Nearly 100 Christians have been arrested this month in Eritrea, the one-party East African state that is among the world’s most repressive, according to World Watch Monitor, which reports on the persecution of Christians.
The arrests come ten years after the regime of Isaias Afwerki, the nation’s president since 1993, imprisoned the head of the Eritrean Orthodox Church and installed a new patriarch in his place.
In 2015, Pope Francis established the Eritrean Catholic Church—the first Eastern Catholic church formally established since the early 20th century. Previously, the nation’s 160,000 Eastern Catholics had belonged to the Ethiopian Catholic Church.
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CWN - The Russian Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow is attempting to enlist the Vatican and other Christian bodies in opposition to proposed regarding religion in Ukraine.
The proposed laws would place restrictions on religious bodies whose leaders is based in “an aggressive state,” requiring them to recognize the geographical integrity of Ukraine and allowing the government to approve their leaders. These measures are obviously aimed at the Ukrainian Orthodox Church affiliated with Moscow. Russia, which has annexed Crimea and is blamed with fomenting unrest in eastern Ukraine, is recognized by that country as an “aggressor state.”
The Moscow patriarchate contends that “no religious community in Ukraine” has endorsed the proposal. But in reality the legislation is strongly backed by the Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, who broke with Moscow in the 1990s to establish the independent Orthodox Patriarchate of Kiev. Not coincidentally, the legislation would require the Ukrainian Orthodox Church- Moscow patriarchate, to recognize the legitimacy of the competing Kiev patriarchate.
An AsiaNews account of the ecclesiastical skirmishing also notes the dispute over the size of the two Orthodox patriarchates in Ukraine. Moscow claims jurisdiction over twice as many parishes, but—since parishes can differ in size—survey results show that Kiev commands the allegiance of more believers. All these claims are heavily disputed.
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CWN - Gunmen in military uniforms stopped a bus carrying Coptic Orthodox pilgrims in Egypt on May 26, and opened fire on the passengers, killing at least 26 people and wounding a roughly equal number.
The gunmen—believed to be Islamic militants—shot passengers at point-blank range, according to Coptic Bishop Makarios of Minya. Many of the victims were children.
The bus was part of a convoy of vehicles carrying Copts from Minya province on a pilgrimage to the monastery of St. Samuel, south of Cairo.
Egyptian President Abdel al Sisi called an emergency meeting of military and security officials in response to the attack. He had already declared a state of emergency after a series of bombings at Coptic churches before Easter.
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CWN - Addressing the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh, President Donald Trump spoke about the war on terrorism and the persecution of Jews and Christians.
“This is not a battle between different faiths, different sects, or different civilizations,” he said. “This is a battle between barbaric criminals who seek to obliterate human life and decent people, all in the name of religion.”
“Of course, there is still much work to be done,” he said later. “That means honestly confronting the crisis of Islamic extremism and the Islamists and Islamic terror of all kinds. We must stop what they’re doing to inspire, because they do nothing to inspire but kill.”
President Trump added:
And it means standing together against the murder of innocent Muslims, the oppression of women, the persecution of Jews, and the slaughter of Christians. Religious leaders must make this absolutely clear—barbarism will deliver you no glory.
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ugcc.org.ua - The first day of visiting Archdiocese of Peruzzi on May, 17 started with praying and visiting world-famous Franciscan sanctuaries in Assisi.
Before the Service Head of UGCC visited a sanctuary where, according to the legend, saint Francis took off his clothes as sign of denying and started his way of monastic life in poverty.
At 5pm in the church, where saint Francis was baptized, His Beatitude Sviatoslav prayed Mass together with cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, Archbishop of Peruzzi and local bishop Domenico Sorrentino. Hieromonks-Franciscans co-served the archbishops.
After the Service Head of UGCC delivered a sermon to the present ones. Referring to the image of “naked” saint Francis who, with a gesture of renunciation and humiliation became similar to Jesus Christ himself, His Beatitude Sviatoslav explained the sense of a paschal faith: “Following saint Francis, who were bearing the wounds of Christ but who remains today in joy of Christ’s resurrection, we are certain that faith in humiliated, ragged and crucified Christ leads us to the resurrection”.
“Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, - told Head of Church, - in the past century suffered from humiliation, destruction and persecution by soviet government, but 25 years ago, thanks to the paschal faith, it rose from the dead”. His Beatitude Sviatoslav also reminded about “forgotten war in Ukraine and called for praying for its end”.
Head of UGCC visited a grave of saint Francis in the major basilica of Franciscan order, prayed in Saint Claire monastery and met with monks of Franciscan order. He asked them for praying for “ending the war what has been going on for 3 years, unceasingly”.
Secretariat of Head of UGCC in Rome
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CWN - Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill believes that the most important outcome of his historic meeting with Pope Francis was a new public recognition of the persecution of Christians.
In an interview with La Stampa more than a year after the meeting, the Russian Patriarch sidestepped most questions about ecumenical relations between Moscow and Rome. Instead he focused on the question of religous freedom and persecution. He said:
The main subject of the discussion was in fact the “monstrous” condition of Christians in the Middle East and North Africa, a much wider topic than the bilateral agenda. I
Until our meeting with Pope Francis, this topic was almost invisible on international media, and we also saw a great deal of indifference from many international organizations. Afterwards, the situation has changed substantially.
Patriarch Kirill went on to say, in the interview with La Stampa, that Christians should work together, especially in Europe, to reverse dangerous trends: “the destruction of the family, the ideology of trans-humanism and so many others.”
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- Ukrainian Greek Catholic Bishops of the United States and Canada Meet In Glen Cove, New York
- Russian Patriarch urges opposition to proposal changing status of Orthodox churches in Ukraine
- Abbas meets with Russian patriarch
- Syriac prelates urge UN protection for Christians in northern Iraq; Chaldean patriarchate demurs