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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
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CWN - Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako, the head of the Chaldean Catholic Church, blessed a giant cross in Telekuf-Tesqopa, a town recently liberated from the rule of ISIS.
The prelate described the event as “the first spark of light shining in all the cities of the Nineveh Plain since the darkness of ISIS, which lasted almost two and a half years. This is our land, and this is our home.”
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CWN - At a meeting in Lebanon last week, the Synod of the Melkite Catholic Church reached an accord ending a heated dispute that had led Patriarch Gregory III Laham to say that some bishops were in “open rebellion.”
Last June, a meeting of the Melkite Synod was postponed after a group of bishops boycotted the meeting, causing the absence of a quorum. The dissident prelates—led by Archbishop Cyrille Bustos of Beirut—had called for the resignation or removal of the Patriarch, saying that he had weakened the Church through mismanagement. Patriarch Gregory responded by saying that the boycott was “an act of open ecclesiastical rebellion against patriachal authority.”
The Vatican’s Congregation for Eastern Churches intervened to mediate the dispute, and the apostolic nuncios in Syria and Lebanon both attended last week’s Synod meeting to encourage open dialogue. In a closing statement the Synod thanked the Holy See for its involvement.
The Synod issued a candid acknowledgement of the dispute, indicating that both sides had been at fault: "During the meeting, the bishops found regrettable and disturbing the insurmountable difficulties that have lately appeared. Nevertheless, dialogue between the participants has resulted in positive results. Some of the bishops who did not participate in previous synods or spread misleading statements in the media admitted that they behaved in an improper manner. They recognised they did wrong. The bishops noted some mismanagement, probably involuntary, in the administration of the Greek Catholic Church."
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CWN - Hundreds of Coptic Christians have fled from their homes in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula after a series of targeted murders by Islamic extremists, the AsiaNews service reports.
Seven Christians have been killed in the region in the past ten days, following a public threat by a group with ties to the Islamic State. Some Christians’ homes have been torched; others have received death threats.
Refugees from the Sinai peninsula are seeking shelter in Cairo and Suez, while survivors are relating stories about the murders they witnessed.
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CWN - Another Coptic Christian has been killed by Islamic militants in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula: the 3rd such killing in two days and the 6th in a month.
Gunmen burst into the home of Kamel Youssef in the town of el Arish and shot him, as his family watched helplessly. An Islamic group with ties to the Islamic State had vowed to kill Christians in the region.
Hundreds of Christians are reportedly leaving their homes in the Sinai region to seek security elsewhere.
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CWN - Orthodox and Catholics in Russia are working together to protect unborn human life, an official of Aid to the Church in Need said in an interview.
“Unfortunately, abortion is very prevalent in Russia,” said Peter Humeniuk. “This can be traced back to Soviet times, when many people considered abortion to be a sort of ‘normal’ form of family planning.”
“Unfortunately, this mentality is still deeply rooted in many people,” he continued. “There is a growing awareness that concrete deeds and initiatives need to be developed to help the women.”
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CWN - Metropolitan Hilarion of Volkolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, met on February 21 with representative from 11 Arab states.
“The great evil of extremism acting under religious slogans has raised its head,” Metropolitan Hilarion said. “Terrorists exterminate Christianity by fire and sword at the places where Christians have been living for nearly two thousand years. I am convinced that the situation of a Christian community in this or that country of the Middle East is an indicator of security and stability.”
The prelate also criticized two ideas he termed “erroneous”: first, “the idea that Christians are a part of the sinful Western world, that they are accomplices of Islam’s enemies”; and second, that there exists “religious terrorism” or “Islamic terrorism.”
He explained:"There cannot be any terrorism on religious grounds or terrorism based on religious beliefs. Not one of the traditional religions teaches to kill people. All religions call for peace. And the history of coexistence of Christians and Muslims in the Middle East, in other regions, in Russia proves that the two religions can co-exist in peace and mutual respect."
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