The Holy See of Cilicia, along with the prelacies as well as the community leadership and affiliated structures throughout the world, expresses its full agreement with the statement issued by the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh, rejecting any approach that would consider the Republic of Artsakh as an integral part of the territory of Azerbaijan, in this particular case by the prime minister and the government of the Republic of Armenia.

Indeed, Artsakh has expressed its collective will for self-rule in a popular referendum on December 10, 1991, and the Supreme Council of the Republic of Armenia reaffirmed the sovereignty of Artsakh on July 8, 1992.

On Thursday, May 12/25, 2023, the Patriarchate celebrated the feast of the Ascension of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ into heaven, deifying the body of our human nature He had assumed and sat at the right hand of God and Father and from whom He sent us the Comforter Holy Spirit.

This Despotic feast was celebrated in the place of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives in accordance with the narratives of the Evangelists (Matt. ch. 28,16 Mark. 16,19, Luke. 24,50 and Acts ch. 1) with Vespers in the afternoon, led by His Eminence Archbishop Theophanes of Gerassa,  along with the Hagiotaphite  Hieromonks Fr Dionysios, Fr Kallistos, Fr Claudius, Fr. Amphilochios and the Priests of Saint James Cathedral. Local faithful Christians attended the service.

Jn 20:19-23

On this feast of Pentecost, we listen to the Gospel passage of John’s Gospel that brings us back to the Easter evening, “On the evening of that first day of the week…” (Jn 20:19-23): the Risen Jesus visits His disciples locked in the Cenacle, and immediately gives them His Spirit, the new life that He received from the Father. As soon as He receives it, He immediately shares it with His own because that is precisely why He came into the world, just for this reason, went through death, thus fulfilling the Father’s work.

Not only. But at the very moment when the Risen Lord gives His Spirit to His disciples, immediately He sends them on a mission, dispatches them, enables them to be His witnesses. These few verses of John lead us to the heart of the new life, the life of missionaries and witnesses.

There is, at the center of these verses, the gift of the Spirit that makes possible what precedes it and what follows it.

On the Sunday of the Blind Man, 8th/ 21st May 2023, according to the book of Pentecostarion, His Beatitude Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Holy Church of Saint George in the Rum-Orthodox Arabic-speaking community of Reine, a town near Nazareth.

Before the Liturgy, His Beatitude was warmly welcomed by the Boy Scouts of the Community.

Co-celebrants to His Beatitude were their Eminences, the Metropolitan Kyriakos of Nazareth, the Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina, the Elder Kamarasis Archimandrite Nectarios, the ministering Dean Priest of the Church Fr Simeon, and other Priests from the neighbouring communities, Archdeacon Mark and Hierodeacon Eulogios, under the chanting of the local Byzantine choir.

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem
cordially invites you to attend an

Ecumenical prayer for Peace
on the Eve of Pentecost

On May 21, 2023, His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and Supreme Head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church, celebrated the Holy Qurobo at Mor Yacoub Nsibinoyo Cathedral in Södertalje, Stockholm .

He was assisted by their Eminences Archbishops: Mor Titus Boulos Touza, Apostolic Delegate for the Syriac Missions in Brazil, and Mor Joseph Bali, Patriarchal Assistant.

On Saturday, May 7/20, 2023, the Feast of the Sign of the Cross Appearing in Heaven was celebrated by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

On this feast, the Church, especially that of Jerusalem, remembers that in the year 351, on the days of the Priesthood of His Eminence Archbishop of Jerusalem Cyril and on the days of Holy Pentecost, around the third hour of the day, a cross of bright stars appeared, extending from the Horrendous Golgotha until the Mount of Olives, becoming visible to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

His Eminence Archbishop Cyril himself is the source of this fact in his letter to Constantius the king, son of Constantine the Great.

ABOUD – From May 19th to May 21st, His Beatitude Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, made a pastoral visit to the Parish of Aboud, in Palestine, after having previously visited the Parishes of Til’Al’Ali (Jordan), Bethlehem, and Ramallah.

These pastoral visits are generally marked by a spirit of sharing and communion, vital for the spiritual growth and well-being of the Body of Christ, that is, the Church, with the pastor seeking to cement his relationship with its members.

“…Feed my lambs… Tend my sheep… Feed my sheep,” Jesus said to Simon Peter before ascending (John 21: 15-18).

His Beatitude Mgr Pizzaballa's main objective behind these visits is to better understand the living conditions of the faithful, to listen to their problems, joys and needs, and to pray, celebrate and rejoice with them.

Jn 17: 1-11

This final Sunday of Easter time bids us read a passage from the seventeenth chapter of the Gospel of John, where, after speaking with His disciples, after opening their hearts, Jesus now directly addresses the Father: it’s the long prayer of Jesus, called the “priestly” prayer.

It is to the Father that Jesus entrusts what is most dear to Him: first of all His mission among men, which is now going through the drama of death and failure, so that all may be fulfilled and Jesus can thus give eternal life to all.

Then, Jesus entrusts his disciples, his friends, those who have listened and received him, to the Father.

And He prays not only for them, but also for all others who, in the future, will believe in Him and will receive from Him the gift of new life.

The Father entrusted them all to Him – “they were yours and you gave them to me” (Jn 17: 6) – so that He would fill them with life, leading them to the full knowledge of the Face of God.

At the Regina Coeli on Ascension Sunday, His Holiness Pope Francis recalls how on this Feast, Jesus brought our humanity into heaven, opening the way for us to follow so that we might live forever in paradise as children of the Father.

By Vatican News staff writer

Addressing the crowds gathered in Saint Peter's Square for the Regina Coeli prayer on this Sunday marking the Ascension of the Lord in Italy and many other countries around the world, His Holiness Pope Francis reflected on two key aspects of this feast: why we celebrate Jesus' departure from the earth, and what He does now in heaven.

On May 17, 2023, His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and Supreme Head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church, received the representative of the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow in Syria Very Reverend Father Philip, at the Patriarchate Headquarters in Bab Touma – Damascus.

His Eminence Archbishop Mor Joseph Bali, Patriarchal Assistant, and Very Reverend Raban Augeen Al-Khoury Nemat, Patriarchal Secretary, were also present in the meeting.

On Tuesday, May 16, 2023, the delegation of the "Hungary Helps" led by the State Secretary for the Aid of Persecuted Christians and the Hungary Helps Program, Dr. Tristan Azbej, paid a visit to the President of the Armenian Protestant Community in Syria, Reverend Dr. Haroutune Selimian.

The delegation became closely acquainted with the Community's Ecclesiastical, educational, medical and social services.

Reverend Selimian presented the contribution of the Hungarian state to the restoration and reconstruction of the community in order to heal the devastating consequences of the war in Syria.

During his Pontifical visit to Kuwait, His Holiness Catholicos Aram I, Catholicos of the Armenian Church, Holy See of Cilicia, and the former Prime Minister of Kuwait Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Mobarak Al-Sabah had an amicable meeting.

On May 17, 2023’s morning (Wednesday), His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, held a meeting with the priests of the Diocese of Milan, in the presence of their bishop, His Grace Bishop Antonio, and His Grace Bishop Luka (Bishop of Southern France and the French sector of Switzerland). The monk Father Kirollos Anba Bishoy (Director of the Papal Office) was also present.

This meeting was preceded by the Divine Liturgy, which His Holiness Pope Tawadros II prayed with the participation of the priests and their wives.

In his sermon during the meeting, His Holiness spoke to them about the subject of “joy” due the occasion of the period of the Holy 50 Days. He indicated that the most important thing in the Resurrection is the spirit of renewal that prevailed as a result of it. The fathers the apostles wrote their gospels and epistles in the light of the Resurrection.

And Bestows Upon The Benefactor Mr. Giragos Kouyoumjian The “knight Of Cilicia” Insignia

On the occasion of the 850th commemoration of the passing of St. Nerses Shnorhali (the Gracious), the newly renovated hall of St. Vartanants church in Kuwait was named after the saint. The official opening ceremony of the hall was conducted by His Holiness Catholicos Aram I, Catholicos of the Armenian Church, Holy See of Cilicia, on Thursday evening, May 11th, 2023.

On May 17, 2023’s morning (Wednesday), His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, received at the Monastery of Anba Shenouda the Archimandrite in Milan, Ambassador Manal Abdel-Dayem (the Egyptian Consul General in Milan), accompanied by Consul Mahmoud El-Toukhy and Consul Ahmed Anwar.

During the meeting, His Holiness Pope Tawadros II referred to the Monastery of Anba Shenouda in Milan as the first monastery established by the Coptic Church in Europe.

His Holiness praised the Egyptian state’s handling of the issue of illegal immigration to Italy, and its success in eliminating this problem.

The Church of Virgin Mary and Saint Anthony in Milan hosted the meeting of His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, with the youth of the diocese of Milan.

The youth gave His Holiness a warm welcome, asserting that they had learned from His Holiness the love of the Church, the love of Egypt, and love for all in general. This made them take the verse “Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:8) as their motto for all matters in their lives, due to what they learned from His Holiness.

They thanked His Holiness for coming and visiting them, chanting: “Axios Ava Tawadros.”. They then displayed a movie of a beautiful hymn about love for the Church and giving thanks to His Holiness.

His Holiness Pope Francis pens a preface to an Italian book by Gaël Giraud and Carlo Petrini entitled "The taste to change. The ecological transition as the path to happiness" (Slow Food Editore and Libreria Editrice Vaticana), which hits bookshops on Wednesday.

By His Holiness Pope Francis

The good that appears as beautiful carries with it the reason why it must be done. This is the first thought that arose for me after reading this beautiful dialogue between Carlo Petrini, whom I have known and esteemed for years, a gastronome and activist known all over the world, and Gaël Giraud, a Jesuit economist whose contributions I have recently appreciated in La Civiltà Cattolica, where he writes qualified articles on economics, finance and climate change.

On May 16, 2023’s morning (Tuesday) His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, received at the diocese of Milan’s Residence, Monsignor Mario Delpini, Archbishop of Milan of the Catholic Church, who came to welcome His Holiness.

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II expressed his happiness over the Archbishop’s visit, considering it an extension of the love that began with His Holiness’s visit to His Holiness Pope Francis: “We held meetings which all prove the serious pursuit for love and unity. We then came to Milan, which has a long history, strong testimony and Christian message that bears witness to Christ. We are joyful because of this trip, and with your visit to us today.”

On Saturday, May 13th, 2023, His Holiness Catholicos Aram I, Catholicos of the Armenian Church, Holy See of Cilicia, and the Pontifical delegation visited the Vatican Embassy, where they were warmly received by Archbishop Eugene Nugent, Apostolic nuncio to Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain.

During their meeting, they discussed issues concerning the region, as well as the Christian communities of the region.