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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
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CWN - The Palm Sunday bombings of Coptic Orthodox churches were “a test for the faith of Egypt’s Christians,” the head of the country’s Catholic Copts told the Fides news service.
Patriarch Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak, the Coptic Catholic leader, reported that he was celebrating Mass in the Catholic cathedral in Alexandria at the time when a suicide bomber struck at the Coptic Orthodox cathedral nearby. “We clearly heard the loud explosion,” he said.
The Catholic patriarch said that his Orthodox counterpart, Coptic Pope Tawadros II was “deeply saddened” by the bombings, to the point that “it is not easy to speak with him.” Pope Tawadros was apparently the target of the bomber in Alexandria, but escaped unharmed.
The Catholic patriarch said that he was happy to hear that Pope Francis will not alter his plan to visit Egypt later this month. He remarked that “cancellation of the program could have given the impression that bloodshed and terror can prevail.”
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CWN - Hank Hanegraaff, a noted Evangelical leader and talk-show host, has been received into the Greek Orthodox Church, along with his wife and two of their twelve children.
Hanegraaff, who is known as the “Bible Answer Man,” has been known for his outspoken criticism of cults and his defense of controversial Christian teachings on moral issues. He was chrismated at St. Nektarios Greek Orthodox Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Palm Sunday.
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CWN - At least 44 Coptic Christians were killed on Palm Sunday, April 9, in two separate bombings.
More than 30 people were killed, and 75 others injured, when a suicide bomber approached the altar of a historic Coptic church in Tanta, north of Cairo, and set up off device at the front of the church. Soon thereafter, another suicide bomber struck at St. Mark’s cathedral in Alexandria, where the Coptic Pope Tawadros was presiding at Palm Sunday services. At least a dozen people were killed, and another 65 injured, in the latter attack.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the bombings. Egyptian authorities say that the Muslim Brotherhood was also involved.
The two Coptic churches appear to have been chosen for their symbolic value. The Mar Girgis Church in Tanta is one of the oldes Christian churches in Egypt, dating back to the year 316. The cathedral in Alexandria was likely targeted because of the presence of Pope Tawadros.
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aleteia.org John Burger | Apr 10, 2017 - Eastern Hospitality' showcases recipes from a monastery kitchen and food for thought from spiritual masters.
At a time when Christians are supposed to be “giving up stuff,” what are a monk and a nun doing in the kitchen cooking tasty meals?
All Lent long, the two religious have been producing weekly cooking programs, tempting viewers to think about food rather than encouraging them to practice self-denial.
But there’s more to their web-based program, Eastern Hospitality, than meets the palate.
Reminiscent of other religious-themed cookbooks and TV programs — such as Brother Victor Antoine’s monastery recipes or Father Leo Patalinghug’s Grace Before Meals — Eastern Hospitality blends simple recipes with food for thought. Each web-based program, running between 15 and 30 minutes, brings in a guest speaker to offer a spiritual reflection. Both the cooking and the reflection are tied to the current religious season or upcoming commemoration.
But it all takes on an Eastern flavor, since it’s produced by Eastern Catholic religious—hence the name. The hosts, Mother Gabriela and Abouna Moses, follow religious practices with roots in the Orthodox Church.
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risu.org.ua - SEED - food for every day. Providing people in the area of military conflict with seeds for home gardens” - Charity Association “Emmanuel” has started a new project in the framework of the Initiative “Pope for Ukraine.”
Thanks to the Pope’s aid, six thousand families from 36 settlements of Donetsk and Luhansk regions will get packs of seeds (carrots, beets, cabbage, tomatoes, squash, corn, peas, radishes, sorrel, parsley) and potatoes for planting on their land plots. To implement this project Charity Association “Emmanuel” has received a grant amounting to 27 thousand euro.
Provision of seeds will allow families in eastern Ukraine to work on their own land and get food for the whole year. In addition, it will give hope and confidence in the future and bring the joy of the fruits of their work, the project inspirers are confident.
“Many residents of frontline cities in eastern Ukraine have their own plots of land with an area of 5.6 acres. This is enough to plant a garden in the spring and get the crops in the fall that will help survive the winter. It takes only seed,” said the project initiator and head of Emmanuel’s social projects Halyna Kucher.
“We will go to the vegetable gardens even under fire, because this is our land, we will cultivate it every year and live thereby. We will plant the vegetable garden and prepare canned vegetables ... just provide us with sowing material,” residents of frontline villages repeatedly came with such requests in winter to charitable organizations. Thanks to the Initiative “Pope for Ukraine” their requests have been heard.
“In late March, the first truck with planting potatoes for the project came from to eastern Ukraine from Mykolaiv region. Geography in this case was highly important because it is the steppe zone, and planting potatoes ought to be accustomed to climatic conditions where there is not sufficient moisture and sun is burning, which is the case in eastern Ukraine,” Ms. Halyna says.
The project covers the population centers of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Krymske, Toshkivka, Zolote, Bakhmutske, Zaitseve, Pisky, Mayorsk, Konstyantynivka, Hornyak, Kurahovka, Yelyzavetivka, Nykyforivka, Mykolayivka, Pervomayske, Netaylove, Umanske, Biletskr, Vodyane, Syeverne, Druzhkivka, Myronivskiy, Luhanske, Maryinka, Krasnohorivka, Toretsk, Novogrodivka, Verhnyotoretske, Bakhmut, Alexandrovka, Kurakhove, Novoselivka, Konstantynopol, Popasna, Siversk, Lysychansk Novotoshkivske.
Using the Pope’s funds, Charity Association “Emmanuel” had previously installed 335 solid fuel boilers in the private sector of Maryinka, following which it engaged in implementation of the vegetable project.
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CWN - Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan has announced his intention to pray at the Hagia Sophia on April 14, delighting Muslim activists who argue that the building remains a mosque.
In 1934, Turkish leader Kemal Ataturk decreed that the Hagia Sophia should be a museum, as part of his drive for secularization. But some Turkish Muslims question the validity of that decree.
Erdogan, who has favored Islamic claims in Turkey, will visit the Hagia Sophia—a building that was originally a Christian church—on the day when the Christian world observes Good Friday.
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