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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
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Glen Cove, NY (risu.org.ua) - The Ukrainian Catholic Bishops of Canada and USA held their annual meeting from May 2nd thru May 4th, 2017 in the Library Building of the Ukrainian Catholic Basilian Fathers at St. Josaphat Monastery located in Glen Cove, NY. A very comfortable and prayerful environment was generously provided through the hospitality of Very Rev. Basilio Salkovski, OSBM, Provincial Superior of the Basilian Fathers of St. Josaphat, OSBM.
Participants in the meeting were Most Rev. Stefan Soroka, Metropolitan for USA and Archbishop of Philadelphia, Most Rev. Lawrence Huculak, OSBM, Metropolitan for Canada and Archbishop of Winnipeg, Most Rev. Paul Chomnycky, OSBM, Bishop of the Eparchy of Stamford, Bishop David Motiuk, Bishop of the Eparchy of Edmonton, Most Rev. Ken Nowakowski, Bishop of the Eparchy of New Westminster, Most Rev. Bryan Bayda, CSsR., Bishop of the Eparchy of Saskatoon, Most Rev. Bohdan Danylo, Bishop of the Eparchy of St. Josaphat in Parma, Bishop John Bura, Auxiliary Bishop for the Philadelphia Archeparchy and Bishop Emeritus Basil Losten of the Eparchy of Stamford.
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CWN - Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill has asked Pope Francis and other religious leaders to exert their influence against a proposal to amend Ukrainian laws to withdraw protection from religious bodies that are under the influence of an “aggressor state.”
Because Ukraine currently defines Russia as an aggressor state, the Patriarch said, the proposal would “threaten the constitutional rights of millions of Ukrainian believers,” who are affiliated with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church subject to the jurisdiction of the Moscow patriachate. He warned that the measure, if passed, could lead to “a wave of violence and new seizures of churches” in Ukraine.
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CWN - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met recently in Moscow with Patriarch Kirill, the head of the largest of the Orthodox churches.
“The preservation of the holy sites, which is part of your lofty responsibility, is something that we take to heart,” the patriarch told Abbas. “We welcome the significant changes taking place in Palestine with regard to the preservation and maintenance of the holy places.”
The Russian government also announced it was spending $4 million to reconstruct an historic street in Bethlehem.
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CWN - Three Syriac bishops have called for internationall protection of the Christian enclaves in northern Iraq, but the Chaldean Catholic Patriarchate of Baghdad has distanced itself from the plea.
Syriac Catholic Archbishop Boutros Moshe of Mosul joined with his Syriac Orthodox counterpart, Archbishop Nicodemus Daud Matti Sharaf, and Orthodox Bishop Timotheos Musa al Shamany of Bartellah, in a call for UN protection of the Nineveh Plains, where tens of thousands of Christians fled their homes during the Islamic State offensive of 2014. Now that the region has been liberated from the Islamic State, the prelates suggested an autonomous administrative district under UN protection.
But the Chaldean Catholic Patriarchate issued a statement indicating that it did not support the plea. The statement cited the stand taken earlier by Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako, who said that the top priority at the moment should be for rebuilding the homes of the villages in the Nineveh Plains. Only after the Christian families have returned and re-established their lives there, should administrative questions be raised, he argued.
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CWN - A Saudi Arabian cleric has called upon the organizers of international soccer competition to bar players from making the Sign of the Cross.
Mohammend Alarefe, an Islamic leader whose Twitter account reaches more than 17 million followers, objected to the fact that many soccer players bless themselves in celebration after scoring a goal.
The prevalence of religious symbols in international soccer competition has become a point of dispute in Islamic countries. This year a leading Spaniard team, Real Madrid, agreed to remove the cross from team merchandise sold in the Middle East.
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Abandonment of Patriarchal Service
“Lo, I come to do thy will, O God.” (Hebrews 10: 9)
Patriarchal Headquarters, Rabweh
6 May 2017
Abandonment of Patriarchal Service is the culmination of my Catholic Christian, monastic and humanitarian life’s work: a period during which the Holy Saviour has bestowed his blessings on me.
On November 29, 2000, I was elected patriarch, so am now in the seventeenth year of my service at the Patriarchate, having completed many projects with the grace of the Saviour and thanks to the generosity and love of friends, especially German ones.
In January 2011, during a private spiritual retreat in Cairo, I wrote down a spiritual prayer and concluded, "I hope to resign from my patriarchal service in due time after seven to ten years.” Then, in the retreat for Damascus priests in Seidnaya in June 2011, I wrote a spiritual meditation saying, "I hope to give up my patriarchal service in either 2014 or 2015, when I am aged 83 or 84 or at most 85." God is behind the intention.