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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
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CWN - The chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate sent Christmas greetings to Pope Francis, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the leader of the Lutheran community in Germany, and other non-Orthodox Christian leaders.
Wishing the Pope and the other Christian leaders “good health and God’s gracious aid in your lofty ministry,” Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk recalled the Incarnation and added:
In our time when “troubles are enlarged” (Ps. 24:17) and the earth once more has been filled with “bloody crimes” (Ezek. 7:23), it is especially important for humanity to turn to its Saviour, for he alone has the power to grant consolation to suffering souls.
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CWN - In his Christmas message, Patriarch Louis I Raphael Sako thanked the Iraqi and Kurdish armies, as well as Christian fighters, for “liberating the Iraqi lands occupied by the ISIS terrorists.”
The patriarch, who leads the Chaldean Catholic Church—an Eastern Catholic church in full communion with the Holy See—also thanked the regional government of Iraqi Kurdistan for assisting persecuted Christians and called upon Iraqi Christians to remain in their native land.
The front line in the battle against the Islamic State is now eight miles from Mosul, and some recently liberated Christian towns were able to celebrate their first Christmas since 2013.
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Thanks to Pope Francis over 2 million people affected by the humanitarian crisis in eastern Ukraine will receive a first installment of much needed aid in time for Christmas, Vatican Radio informs.
A communiqué released by the Papal charitable office ‘Cor Unum’ reveals that about 6 million euros, out of the 12 million that have been collected so far, will reach vulnerable people in the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, Zaporozhe, Kharkiv and Dnepropetrovsk.
The press release points out that aid will be distributed regardless of religion or ethnic group.
The money was collected by Catholic churches across Europe in response to a personal appeal by the Pope for a collection on April 24, 2016, in aid of Ukrainians affected by the conflict in the east of the nation.
He then set up a committee presided over ‘in loco’ by the Auxiliary Bishop of Kharkiv- Zaporozhe, Jan Sobilo, and coordinated by the Apostolic Nuncio in Ukraine, Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, to oversee the distribution of the funds.
The committee has since selected and evaluated a series of aid programmes presented by Christian and international humanitarian organizations.
So far it has decided to fund 20 large-scale projects and 39 smaller ‘solidarity’ initiatives.
In collaboration with the Apostolic Nunciature, the money will be used to fund food, housing, medical and health care projects.
According to a recent UNHCR report, the ongoing conflict in Eastern Ukraine has killed 9758 people and injured almost 23000 since it began in mid-2014.
Source:RISU
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Notice of publication December 2016
Pastoral Letters of His Beatitude Patriarch Gregorios III
I Am With You Always: Volume II
A collection of pastoral letters from 2008-2009
by Patriarch Gregorios III of Antioch and All the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem
Available from Eastern Christian Publications
Price: $20.00
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Cairo, Egypt - His Beautitude, Patriarch Gregorios III traveled to Egypt to celebrate Christmas. Photo coverage is below.
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| Melkite clergy assembled with His Beatitude and the Patriarchal Vicar, Georges Bakar at the Patriarchate |
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And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory,
glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14
Christ is born! Glorify Him!
Today our hearts are filled with lightsome Christmas joy. The eternal God becomes man, so that man might be united and reconciled with Him forever. The Son of God becomes the son of the Virgin from Nazareth and allows Himself to be carried in human arms. For us, Christians, this great and unfathomable Mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God is the key to knowing the nature of God and understanding the history of salvation. The Nativity of Christ shows us who God is and who we are to be in relation to Him and to one another.
Gazing upon the pre-eternal God born in a simple stable cave, the Church sings: “From the bosom of the Father You came forth, O Lover of mankind, and in ineffable humility accepted supernatural poverty. You, O Lord, deigned to dwell in a cave, and, as a child, You, the Creator and Lord, are nursed at the breasts. Therefore, led by a star, the Magi bring You gifts, as to the Lord of creation, and the shepherds and angels wonder and cry out: Glory to God in the highest, Who is now coming in the form of a human being, to be born on earth” (Sunday before Nativity, Matins Praises).