The Head of the Supreme Council of the Evangelical Community in Syria and Lebanon and member of the MECC executive committee,, Rev. Joseph Kassab, and Rev. Najla Kassab received the President of the Reformed Church Council in Europe under the World Communion of Reformed Churches Martina Wasserloss, accompanied by Head of Ecumenical Church Relations at the Reformed Church in Hungary Julia Berecz. The visit took place on the sidelines of their participation in a conference held at the Dhour El Shweir Evangelical Conference Center, which brought together women from Lebanon, Syria, Ukraine, and Northern Ireland to share their stories of perseverance during times of war.

On Thursday 10 April 2025, His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark received at the Papal Residence in Cairo, His Eminence Archbishop Dr. Samy Fawzy, Archbishop of the Episcopal Church in Egypt, North Africa, and the Horn of Africa, along with his accompanying delegation, who came to extend their greetings to His Holiness on the occasion of the Glorious Feast of the Resurrection.

On Thursday 10 April 2025, His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, received at the Papal Residence in Cairo, Dr. Rev. Andrea Zaki, Head of the Evangelical denomination in Egypt, accompanied by a delegation of representatives from the bodies and councils affiliated with the Evangelical denomination, who came to extend their greetings to His Holiness on the occasion of the Glorious Feast of the Resurrection.

On April 11, 2025, His Holiness Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Supreme Head of the Syriac Orthodox Church of the World, and Honorary President of the Middle East Council of Churches arrived to Baghdad. He presided over the ramsho prayer at St Peter and St Paul Cathedral.

To the fullness of the Church, grace, mercy, and peace from the All-Holy and Life-Giving Tomb of the Risen Christ.

“Though Thou didst descend into the tomb, O Immortal One,

Yet didst Thou destroy the power of Hades;

And Thou didst rise again as victor, O Christ God,

Proclaiming ‘Rejoice!’ to the Myrrh-bearing women,

And granting peace unto Thine Apostles,

Thou who bestowest resurrection upon the fallen.”

(Kontakion of the Sunday of Pascha)

With unspeakable and full joy, with thanksgiving and doxology unto our all-good God, the Holy Church of Christ celebrates, on this “saving and radiant night,” the mystery of the Resurrection from the dead of its Founder, our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ. It celebrates the wondrous truth that the Son and Word of God, who “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1), “was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). As Saint Athanasius the Great declares, in Him came to be “a union of two dissimilar things by nature: Godhead and manhood” (PG 77, 571A). In the flesh which He assumed, by the good pleasure of the Father and out of His supreme love for mankind, He willingly accepted death on our behalf—even the death of the Cross under Pontius Pilate.

“For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, says the Lord.” (Jeremiah 30:17)

The Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society (EMMS) organized a special ecumenical gathering under the theme: Healing Our Weakness on Thursday, April 10, 2025, at Nazareth Hospital, one of the key institutions hosting the Society’s programs aimed at serving marginalized communities.

This spiritual event, held during the blessed Lenten season, brought together Christians to pray in unity for healing and reconciliation, with the participation of: H.E. Msgr. Rafiq Nahra, Patriarchal Vicar for Galilee, and His Eminence Bishop Hosam Elias Naoum, the Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem, and the Primate of the Episcopal Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East, Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem, along with a number of priests, pastors, religious, and faithful.

Luke 15:1-3,11-32

At the center of the parable told in today’s liturgy (Luke 15:1-3,11-32), the well-known parable of the Merciful Father, is a house in which a father lives with his two sons. 

A key to entering this passage, we find with a phrase found towards the end of the story, where we discover that the eldest son “became angry, and refused to enter the house” (Luke 15:28). 

So, there is a house into which a son does not want to go and prefers to stay outside. 

We also discover that not only the eldest son but also the youngest son has problems with this house: he too is away from home. He has asked his father for his share of the inheritance and has left (“collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country” - Lk 15:13). Nothing is known about where he went, except that this place is far from home. 

On Monday, 25th March / 7th April 2025, the Patriarchate celebrated the Theotokos’ Feast of the Annunciation. On this feast, the Church commemorates the event when the Archangel Gabriel, who had previously appeared in the Old Testament as the angel of the Mighty God, visited the maiden Mary in Nazareth and announced to her that, by the Holy Spirit, she would conceive and bear the Son of God, the awaited Messiah. In response, despite her confusion and fear, Mary answered: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38, KJV), revealing the holy pattern of humility and obedience by which the mind and sin of the former Eve were overcome, and the way was opened for the incarnation of the Son of God, in accordance with the divine plan for the regeneration and salvation of humankind. Thus, Mary revealed to the world that she is indeed the highly favoured Virgin, of whom the Prophet Isaiah had prophesied: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14, KJV).

There was a lot of hope in recent months first with the ceasefire agreement with Lebanon, followed by a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

The guns stopped, [Israeli] hostages were released and the humanitarian supplies flowed in large quantities to Gaza bringing temporary relief that was thought to be the beginning of the end of this very long, bloody, and destructive war. Moving to the second phase of the agreement never materialized and [Israel] restarted its military attack on Gaza at a level not seen before.

The Antelias Pilgrimage Day and the feast commemorating St. Gregory the Illuminator’s descent into the pit (Khor Virab) were celebrated at the Catholicosate of Cilicia on Sunday, April 6, 2025. The occasion included a grand pontifical procession featuring seminarians, clergy from the Cilician Brotherhood, the Armenian Prelacy of Lebanon, Lebanese Armenian scouts, and the faithful. During the procession, His Holiness and the clergy carried the sacred relic of St. Gregory along with other saints, touring the Catholicosate and blessing the faithful.

On the evening of Saturday, April 5, 2025, a vigil service was held at St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral in Antelias to commemorate the Antelias Pilgrimage Day. His Holiness Catholicos Aram I, Catholicos of the Armenian Church, Holy See of Cilicia, and Honorary President of the Middle East Council of Churches, presided over the service and delivered a sermon focused on the theme of the Christ-Light.

On the Pilgrimage Day of the Catholicosate of Cilicia, celebrated on the eve of the feast of St. Gregory the Illuminator’s Descent into the Pit (Khor Virab), His Holiness Catholicos Aram I, Catholicos of the Armenian Church, Holy See of Cilicia, and Honorary President of the Middle East Council of Churches, along with the Cilician Brotherhood, retrieves the relic of St. Gregory and other sacred relics from the Cilicia Museum.

On the evening of 22nd March / 4th April 2025, the service of the Akathist Hymn took place at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. According to the typical order, within the framework of the Small Compline service, the hymns of the Akathist were chanted, specifically the “I will open my mouth” and the four Stases of the Akathist Hymn were read melodiously.

From the Secretariat-General of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem - From the Holy Archdiocese of Qatar

Between Wednesday, 13th/26th March 2025 and Saturday, 16th/29th March 2025, His Beatitude Patriarch John I of Antioch and All the East officially visited the Emirate of Qatar and the Archdiocese of Qatar. His Beatitude Patriarch John I arrived at Hamad International Airport in Doha at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, 13th/26th March 2025, where he was welcomed by His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Qatar.

On Friday, April 4, 2025, His Beatitude Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, presided over the redidcated the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows in the town of Aboud, following the completion of its restoration and renovation works.

The Department of Christian Education at the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon held 11 training sessions to prepare female leaders from churches in both countries. The program began in 2022 with the participation of 42 women and concluded on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, with a graduation ceremony for 32 women.

On (Thursday) the 3rd of March 2025, H.H. Pope Tawadros II inaugurated the services building of the Giza Diocese, which was constructed within the premises of the diocese headquarters.

The International Theological Commission publishes “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour: 1700th Anniversary of the Ecumenical Council of Nicea (325-2025)”, dedicated to the Council that produced the first universal creed and proclaimed the faith of salvation in Jesus Christ, and in the One God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

By Vatican News

On May 20, the Christian world will commemorate the 1700th anniversary of the opening of the first ecumenical council, held in Nicea in 325, which has gone down in history primarily on account of the Creed, which brings together, defines, and proclaims the faith in salvation in Jesus Christ and in the One God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Later completed by the Council of Constantinople in 381, the Nicene Creed became in practice the identity card of the professed faith of the Church. For this reason, the International Theological Commission (ITC) decided to dedicate a document of almost seventy pages to the Council, which was convened by the emperor Constantine in Asia Minor, with the twofold objective of recalling its fundamental meaning and highlighting the extraordinary resources of the Creed, relaunching them in the perspective of the new stage of evangelisation that the Church is called to undertake in the current change of epoch. The new document acquires special relevance as the anniversary of Nicea occurs during the Jubilee of Hope in a year when Easter is celebrated by all Christians on the same date.

of his Beatitude the Patriarch of Serbia Porfirij by His Beatitude Patriarch Kyrios Kyrios Theophilos III

From the Secretariat-General of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem

On Wednesday, the 20th of March/2nd of April 2025, His Beatitude the Patriarch of Serbia Prorfirije, co-celebrated the Pre-Sanctified Liturgy with His Beatitude Patriarch Kyrios Kyrios Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, at the Horrendous Golgotha. The following Eminent High Priests also co-served: Metropolitan Kyriakos of Nazareth, Metropolitan Hesychios of Capitolia, the Assistant Bishop of Toplica, His Grace Petar, the visiting Metropolitan of Tamasos, His Eminence Isaias, and Hieromonks from the Holy Sepulchre Brotherhood, among whom the first was Archimandrite  Kamarasis Elder Nektarios, as well as other Hieromonks and priests accompanying the Patriarch of Serbia, including Archimandrite Vassianos, Head of the Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem (MISSIA), Archdeacon Mark, and other deacons, with His Eminence Elder Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina, also participating, alongside local faithful and devout pilgrims.

Jn 8:1-11

Today, too, we try to understand the passage from this Sunday’s Gospel (Jn 8:1-11) by starting with a small detail.

We are in the temple, where Jesus has come from the Mount of Olives. He has sat down and is teaching the people who have gathered around him (Jn 8:1-2). While he is teaching, scribes and Pharisees bring an adulterous woman to him and ask him to pronounce judgment on her. But Jesus remains silent and writes with his finger on the ground (Jn 8:6). And because they insist, Jesus says the famous words: “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (Jn 8:7), then he bends down again and continues to write on the ground (Jn 8:8).