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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
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The head of the Russian Orthodox Church issued his Christmas message on January 5 as Orthodox Christians who follow the Julian calendar prepared to celebrate the feast day.
“In following Christ, the human person goes against the elements of this world,” wrote Patriarch Kirill of Moscow. “He does not submit to the temptations he encounters, and he determinedly tramples down the barriers of sin that stand in his way.”
“Indeed, it is sin that draws us away from God and genuinely renders our lives harsh,” he continued. “It is sin that, in eclipsing the light of the Divine love, plunges us into many and varied afflictions and hardens our heart towards other people. Sin, though, is vanquished only by the grace of the Holy Spirit, which is given to us through the Church.”
The patriarch, who leads the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches, also prayed for peace in Ukraine.
“The fratricidal conflict which has arisen in the land of Ukraine should never divide the Church’s children by sowing enmity within peoples’ hearts,” he said. “The true Christian cannot hate his neighbors or those afar.”
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CWN - A Catholic priest who was abducted in Syria on December 23 has been released.
Father Dhiya Azziz, who was seized as he returned to his parish in Yakubiya after visiting relatives in Turkey, was set free on Monday evening, January 4. In announcing his release, the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land declined to provide any details, citing “confidentiality reasons.”
Earlier, Church spokesmen had said that Father Azziz was likely being held by an Islamic rebel group. His parish is situated in an area held by rebels. In fact Father Azziz had been kidnapped previously, in July, and held briefly by Islamic militants before he managed to escape.
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CWN - In his January 1 homily, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem said that “in the coming year, we will continue to pray for peace in our land, that Israelis and Palestinians lay aside the ways of violence and set out on the path of peace.”
“As we begin a new year, the global situation is disastrous,” Patriarch Fouad Twal preached on January 1 at the Co-Cathedral of the Most Holy Name of Jesus.
He continued: In this context, how can we not think of Iraq and Syria, where raging conflicts continue to claim innocent victims? How can we not talk about the dangerous situation in the Land of Jesus, where we fail to reconnect in truth, justice and mutual understanding, shattered by conflicts and sustained by unrelenting daily attacks and bombings in revenge? And what about the tragic phenomenon of terrorist violence, which seems to push the world toward a future of fear and anguish? It is true, we are afraid, everyone is fearful and the weapons we amass for defense are worthless!
“We ask the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, to sustain us in our hope and perseverance,” he added. “May she guide us in our prayers and reflections in this home where God is among us.”
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CWN - In a message for the new year, the patriarchate of the Chaldean Catholic Church offered congratulations to Iraqi and Kurdish forces as well as to others involved in the liberation of the city of Ramadi from Islamic State control.
The patriarchate called upon religious leaders in Iraq to help build a culture characterized by “tolerance, acceptance, and respect for others.”
On New Year’s Day, despite what the patriarchate characterized as “precarious conditions of security,” Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako and an auxiliary bishop walked unescorted through the streets of Baghdad to celebrate Mass at a parish.
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Pope Francis on Monday erected the Syro-Malankara Eparchy of St. Mary, Queen of Peace, of the United States and Canada, nominating Bishop Thomas Mar Eusebius Naickamparambil as its first Bishop.
The Eparchy consists of 11,500 faithful, especially in the US states of Illinois, Texas, Michigan, Florida, New York, and Washington, D.C., served by 19 priests in 19 parishes or missions. Three women religious Institutes also operate within the Eparchy’s territory.
This new Ecclesiastical circumscription is created by the elevation of the Apostolic Exarchate for the Syro-Malankara faithful resident in the United States, including the extension of the boundaries to include Canada, where the pastoral care of the faithful has been coordinated most recently by His Excellency, Thomas Mar Eusebios Naickamparambil in his capacity as Apostolic Visitator.
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CWN - Egypt’s Al Azhar Observatory has accused the Coptic Orthodox Church of broadcasting anti-Islamic programming, the Fides news service reports.
The coverage of Islam on the al-Hayat channel tends to “increase hatred and resentment, threaten security, and spread extremist ideas,” the observatory charged. A spokesman for the Coptic Church replied that the Church does not control al-Hayat broadcasts, and disapproves of sectarianism.
The Al Azhar Observatory was set up by Al Azhar University—the leading intellectual institution in the Sunni Muslim world—to monitor religious extremism. Its criticism of the Coptic broadcasts is ominous because Al Azhar University has generally sought to encourage inter-religious dialogue and discourage hostility toward Egypt’s Christians. The criticism of the Copts, raised during the Christmas season, is likely to increase pressure on Egypt’s religious minority.
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