World Council of Churches Message of Solidarity to Christians in Egypt

Con­cerned about the secu­rity of Chris­tians in Egypt, the World Coun­cil of Churches (WCC) has encour­aged the churches in the coun­try to con­tinue their involve­ment in Muslim-Christian dialogue.”

It is a mat­ter of regret that in Egypt today Chris­tians can eas­ily fall vic­tim to vio­lence and hatred, and that their secu­rity is not fully guar­an­teed. Many Copts, in par­tic­u­lar, are made to feel like aliens in their own country.”

This state­ment is part of a mes­sage to the mem­ber churches of the WCC in Egypt issued by the Council’s exec­u­tive com­mit­tee at the end of its 23–26 Feb­ru­ary meet­ing in Bossey, near Geneva, Switzerland.

In one of the lat­est attacks tar­get­ing Chris­tians in Egypt, six Chris­tians and one Mus­lim were shot down by gun­men at the con­clu­sion of the cel­e­bra­tion of a Cop­tic Christ­mas mid­night mass in Nag Ham­madi on 7 January.

The WCC mes­sage con­veys “the con­cern of the entire ecu­meni­cal fam­ily” and affirms “unequiv­o­cal sup­port to the churches in Egypt in these troubled times”.

The mes­sage also encour­ages the churches in Egypt “to con­tinue to counter neg­a­tive trends with a pro-active engage­ment in dia­logue and part­ner­ship for life and for Christian-Muslim coexistence”.

The full text of the WCC’s state­ment is reproduced below.

Mes­sage from WCC Exec­u­tive Com­mit­tee to Mem­ber Churches in Egypt

World Coun­cil of Churches
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Bossey, Switzer­land
23–26 February 2010

We, the exec­u­tive com­mit­tee of the World Coun­cil of Churches (meet­ing from 23 to 26 Feb­ru­ary 2010 in Bossey, Switzer­land), send you greet­ings in the pre­cious name of our Sav­iour and Lord, Jesus Christ!

The gen­eral sec­re­tary of the World Coun­cil of Churches in his let­ter addressed to His Holi­ness Pope Shenouda III has expressed the WCC’s deep con­cern over the vicious attack by a group of peo­ple on a Cop­tic Ortho­dox con­gre­ga­tion in Nag Ham­madi on Jan­u­ary 7^th, 2010. This crime injured sev­eral peo­ple in one of the ancient Chris­t­ian sites in Egypt leav­ing six Chris­tians and one Muslim dead.

Dur­ing the meet­ing of the exec­u­tive com­mit­tee, we again heard about this tragic hap­pen­ing, and we take this oppor­tu­nity as mem­bers of the exec­u­tive com­mit­tee to con­vey our deep concern.

We under­stand that the tim­ing and cow­ardly nature of the attack were wholly inde­fen­si­ble, since the act was per­pe­trated at the con­clu­sion of the cel­e­bra­tion of a Cop­tic Christ­mas mid­night mass. This attack against the churches and the killings of inno­cent peo­ple took on added polit­i­cal sig­nif­i­cance, as this inci­dent occurred dur­ing an impor­tant reli­gious cel­e­bra­tion and its only pur­pose was to under­mine the his­tor­i­cal and nat­ural ties between Chris­tians and Mus­lims in Egypt.

We, the mem­bers of the exec­u­tive com­mit­tee of the WCC, con­vey the con­cern of the entire ecu­meni­cal fam­ily and affirm our unequiv­o­cal sup­port to the churches in Egypt in these trou­bled times. We draw courage from knowl­edge that you in the churches of Egypt stand firm in sus­tain­ing your wit­ness through the many tri­als and tribu­la­tions that con­tinue to threaten. We count your per­se­ver­ance in faith as a liv­ing exam­ple of true Chris­t­ian wit­ness, even to the point of martyrdom.

It is a mat­ter of regret that in Egypt today Chris­tians can eas­ily fall vic­tim to vio­lence and hatred, and that their secu­rity is not fully guar­an­teed. Many Copts, in par­tic­u­lar, are made to feel like aliens in their own coun­try. This mar­gin­al­iza­tion is fur­ther com­pounded by sec­tar­ian vio­lence and hatred.

We are con­scious of the great pain this has inflicted on the churches in Egypt. While we share with you the agony and anguish of the peo­ple, we express to the churches in Egypt our deep con­cern and sol­i­dar­ity with all your mem­bers in these trou­bled times. We believe that what­ever hap­pens to one com­mu­nity has a direct bear­ing on all com­mu­ni­ties. Notwith­stand­ing the chal­lenges before us, we know that we can­not despair. Rather, as Chris­tians, we must find ways to be mes­sen­gers of love and to con­vey the peace of God in Jesus Christ even amidst hos­til­ity and aggression.

We encour­age the churches in Egypt to con­tinue to counter neg­a­tive trends with a pro-active engage­ment in dia­logue and part­ner­ship for life and for Christian-Muslim coexistence.

We reaf­firm our sup­port to the var­i­ous ini­tia­tives of the Egypt­ian churches aimed at advanc­ing the com­mon good of all peo­ple in Egypt regard­less of their religious identities.

We pray with all mem­bers of the churches in Egypt for the strength and courage to with­stand and over­come the immense chal­lenges that con­front Chris­tians in Egypt in these difficult times.

صفحات الإبراشية باللغة العربية

يسعد إبراشية لوس أنجلوس تحت رعاية الحبر الجليل الأنبا سيرابيون أن تعلن عن إفتتاح موقعها الإلكتروني علي الإنترنت باللغة العربية.
سوف تتضمن الصفحات الجديدة علي عظات ومواضيع روحية بالإضافة إلي قداسات وإذاعة مباشرة لقناة لوغوس تحت إشراف الإبراشية. الموقع الجديد سوف يحتوي أيضاً علي أقسام للآبائيات، الإجتماعيات، وكل ما يهم الأسرة والشباب. كما يتيح الموقع أيضاً لكل أعضائه المسجلين أن ينشروا أخبار إجتماعية من أعياد ميلاد، معموديات، تعازي، تهاني، وغيرها في قسم الأخبار الإجتماعية.
الموقع الجديد سوف يتناول أهم الأحداث التي تقوم بها الإبراشية من مسابقات ومحاضرات ورسائل رعوية. سوف تقوم الإبراشية أيضاً بنشر جدول مواعيد نيافة الحبر الجليل الأنبا سيرابيون، بالإضافة إلي النتيجة الشهرية لأنشطة الإبراشية.
الإبراشية تشجع الجميع علي الإشتراك والإستفادة من هذه الخدمة وتطلب صلواتكم وتتمني أن تعود هذه الخدمة علي الجميع بالإستفادة الروحية والنمو في المسيح.

رسالة رعوية في ذكري الأربعين لشهداء نجع حمادي

في يوم الأحد الموافق ١٤ فبراير ٢٠١٠ أقامت الإيبارشية تذكار الأربعين لشهداء نجع حمادي، وقد ألقي نيافة الحبر الجليل الأنبا رسالة رعوية تذكاراً لذلك. يمكنك الإستماع للرسالة الصوتية هنا: رسالة رعوية في ذكري الأربعين لشهداء نجع حمادي

Pastoral Message of H.G. Bishop Serapion for the Third Sunday of the Great Lent

On Feb­ru­ary 28, 2010, (21 Meshir 1726 A.M.) the Cop­tic Ortho­dox Church of Alexan­dria observes the Third Sun­day of the Great Lent, in which we remem­ber the Father embrac­ing and kiss­ing the neck of the Prodi­gal Son who returned to him in sincere repentance.

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As part of the diocese’s spir­i­tual pro­gram dur­ing this holy sea­son, our father, His Grace Bishop Ser­a­pion, has recorded a pas­toral mes­sage for this Sun­day of the Great Lent.

It is avail­able for stream­ing and downloading here:

Pas­toral Mes­sage for the Third Sun­day of the Great Lent

Pastoral Message of H.G. Bishop Serapion for the Third Sunday of the Great Lent

On Feb­ru­ary 28, 2010, (21 Meshir 1726 A.M.) the Cop­tic Ortho­dox Church of Alexan­dria observes the Third Sun­day of the Great Lent, in which we remem­ber the Father embrac­ing and kiss­ing the neck of the Prodi­gal Son who returned to him in sincere repentance.

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As part of the diocese’s spir­i­tual pro­gram dur­ing this holy sea­son, our father, His Grace Bishop Ser­a­pion, has recorded a pas­toral mes­sage for this Sun­day of the Great Lent.

It is avail­able for stream­ing and downloading here:

Pas­toral Mes­sage for the Third Sun­day of the Great Lent

Pastoral Message of H.G. Bishop Serapion for the Third Sunday of the Great Lent

On Feb­ru­ary 28, 2010, (21 Meshir 1726 A.M.) the Cop­tic Ortho­dox Church of Alexan­dria observes the Third Sun­day of the Great Lent, in which we remem­ber the Father embrac­ing and kiss­ing the neck of the Prodi­gal Son who returned to him in sincere repentance.

<!—break—>

As part of the diocese’s spir­i­tual pro­gram dur­ing this holy sea­son, our father, His Grace Bishop Ser­a­pion, has recorded a pas­toral mes­sage for this Sun­day of the Great Lent.

It is avail­able for stream­ing and downloading here:

Pas­toral Mes­sage for the Third Sun­day of the Great Lent

Pastoral Message of H.G. Bishop Serapion for the Third Sunday of the Great Lent

On Feb­ru­ary 28, 2010, (21 Meshir 1726 A.M.) the Cop­tic Ortho­dox Church of Alexan­dria observes the Third Sun­day of the Great Lent, in which we remem­ber the Father embrac­ing and kiss­ing the neck of the Prodi­gal Son who returned to him in sincere repentance.

<!—break—>

As part of the diocese’s spir­i­tual pro­gram dur­ing this holy sea­son, our father, His Grace Bishop Ser­a­pion, has recorded a pas­toral mes­sage for this Sun­day of the Great Lent.

It is avail­able for stream­ing and downloading here:

Pas­toral Mes­sage for the Third Sun­day of the Great Lent

Pastoral Message of H.G. Bishop Serapion for the Second Sunday of the Great Lent

 On Feb­ru­ary 21, 2010, (14 Meshir 1726 A.M.) the Cop­tic Ortho­dox Church of Alexan­dria observes the Sec­ond Sun­day of the Great Lent, in which we remem­ber our Lord Jesus Christ over­com­ing temp­ta­tion and evil in the wilder­ness as He fasted for us forty days and forty nights.

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As part of the diocese’s spir­i­tual pro­gram dur­ing this holy sea­son, our father, His Grace Bishop Ser­a­pion, has recorded a pas­toral mes­sage for this First Sun­day of the Great Lent.

It is avail­able for stream­ing and downloading here:

Pas­toral Mes­sage of H.G. Bishop Ser­a­pion for the Sec­ond Sun­day of the Great Lent

Ask H.G. Bishop Serapion Questions Live Tonight @ 8:00 p.m.

With great joy and enthu­si­asm, the dio­cese announces the “Dear Bishop” pro­gram tonight at 8:00 p.m. PST on Logos TV. In this pro­gram, vis­i­tors from around the world will be able to ask His Grace Bishop Ser­a­pion ques­tions and hear the answers live on air.

To ask His Grace a ques­tion, you may e-mail dearbishop@lacopts.org or call 1–909-89–LOGOSTV (909–895-6467).

Watch live at http://www.lacopts.org/logostv

Church Commemorates Nag Hammadi Martyrs

On Sun­day, Feb­ru­ary 14, 2010, the con­gre­ga­tion of the church solemnly com­mem­o­rated the For­ti­eth Day Memo­r­ial of the Nag Ham­madi mar­tyrs, who received the crown of mar­tyr­dom as they were shot and killed while exit­ing the church after cel­e­bra­tion of the Divine Liturgy on the Feast of the Nativ­ity.
On this day, the con­gre­ga­tion remem­bered in […]

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