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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
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CWN - In a message of Easter greetings to Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II, Pope Francis said that “Christians are called to proclaim the Risen One together.”
The Pope’s message emphasized the hope that springs from Christian faith and “enables every man and every woman to look at their lives with new eyes and a new heart, even in circumstances marked by sadness and difficulties.” The Pope’s encouragement comes at a time when Egyptian Christians have been victims of violence, with Pope Tawadros himself apparently the target of a suicide bomber.
“May Easter—that we Christians celebrate the same day this year—instil into our churches a growing desire for an ever greater solidarity in proclaiming the Gospel and serving those who are in need,” the Pope wrote in the message, which was hand-delivered to the Coptic prelate by the apostolic nuncio in Egypt, Archbishop Bruno Musaro.
Pope Francis will meet Pope Tawadros in Cairo later this month, when both are scheduled to appear at a peace conference hosted by Al Azhar University.
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vatican.va - The Holy Father has appointed as bishop of the eparchy of Saint Nicholas of Chicago of the Ukrainians (United States of America) His Excellency Msgr. Venedykt (Valery) Aleksiychuk, M.S.U., transferring him from the titular see of Germaniciana and the office of auxiliary of the archieparchy of Lviv of the Ukrainians.
Msgr. Venedykt (Valery) Aleksiychuk, M.S.U. was born on 1 January 1968 in the village of Borshchivka, in the region of Rivne, Ukraine. He attended the major seminary of Drohobych and on 29 March 1992 he was ordained a priest.
In 1993 he was received in the Univ Holy Dormition Lavra of the Studite Rite and on 21 December 1995 he gave his first vows. He obtained a doctorate in spiritual theology from the Catholic University of Lublin, Poland.
He exercised his ministry in the parish of Bystrytsia (deaconry of Drohobych); in Belarus in Polock, and in the in parish of Vitebsk (1994-1996); and in Canada (1996-1999). He has served as Igumeno of the Lavra of Univ (2000 and re-elected in 2005); member of the commission of the Major Archbishop for Monasticism (2004); and administrator of the parish of St. Nicola Peremyshlany (2004). Since 2007 he was head of the secretariat of the Council of Monks of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church; president of the liturgical council and president of the major superiors of male religious institutes of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
He was elected as auxiliary bishop of Lviv of the Ukrainians on 3 August 2010, and was consecrated on the following 5 September.
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Photo: Participants in the OL XX Conference in June 2016
Fairfax, Virginia – The theme for the Orientale Lumen XXI Conference on June 19-22, 2017 in Washington, DC will be “Chieti and Crete: Two Historical Events.” Speakers and participants will discuss the Chieti Agreed Statement of September 2016 in which the Orthodox-Catholic International Dialogue agreed on the role of the Bishop of Rome during the First Millennium. The second topic will be the Great and Holy Council of the Orthodox Church held on Crete in June 2016 which produced, among other documents, a statement on the ecumenical relationship of the Orthodox Church with other Christian Churches. The conference is a “grass roots” ecumenical movement open to the public that includes laity, clergy, theologians and hierarchs from the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholic and Oriental Orthodox Churches.
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risu.org.ua - Now all visitors can take a virtual tour of the unique wooden churches in the Carpathian region included in the World Heritage List.
In partnership with the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, Google Ukraine digitized 8 wooden churches in the region and created a special site “Wooden Churches of the Carpathian Region” where one can learn more about each of the churches, and map route to them on Google Maps. 3D-tours of all the churches are available in Street View mode on Google Maps.
Overall, UNESCO put 16 churches on the list of wooden churches of the Carpathian region - eight of which are located in Ukraine and eight in Poland. The churches can be divided according to 4 types of architecture: Hutsul (Ukraine), Galician (four in Ukraine and two in Poland), Boikos (two in Ukraine and one in Poland) and Lemkos (all five in Poland).
The virtual tour can take you to the heart of the Carpathians and give the opportunity to experience the unique architecture of ancient Ukrainian art, masterpieces of European construction that belongs to UNESCO cultural heritage. With easy navigation and voice guidance, you can learn interesting facts about the old churches in the Ukrainian Carpathians region. Take a virtual tour of each of them and plunge into the atmosphere of past centuries through virtual reality.
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CWN - Following a surge of attacks on Egypt’s Christians, a Coptic Catholic bishop said that there is no need for Western nations to come to their defense.
“If there were oppression on the part the State or government, these sorts of remarks might make sense,” said Bishop Antonios Aziz Mina, according to a Fides report. “But now it is clear that these terrorists carry out attacks to destabilize the country, and aim to break Egypt’s Christian-Muslim harmony.”
He added:"We have no need of outside protection. All we need is not to be divided from our Muslim brothers. They are the ones who can defend us, and we must help them and help the police resist against these groups which sow death, hiding behind pseudo-religious ideologies."
The prelate made his remarks after the Palm Sunday church bombings but before the attack on historic St. Catherine’s Monastery.
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CWN - The Pakistani bishops’ conference and a Muslim organization have begun a joint campaign for peace that will last through the Easter season.
The campaign’s symbol is an olive branch, and olive trees are being planted at churches, mosques, schools, and madrasas, according to a Fides report.
“Muslim leaders are asking for olive trees to be planted in seminaries where young Muslims study and can learn to become lovers of peace,” said Father Francis Nadeem of the bishops’ National Commission for Interreligious Dialogue and Ecumenism.
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