On Sunday, February 11, 2007, at Saint Demiana Church in San Diego, His Grace Bishop Serapion ordained Archdeacon Kyrillos Ibrahim, now Fr.Kyrillos Ibrahim, as a priest for the Diocese of Los Angeles to serve Saint Demiana Church in San Diego. Participating in the Ordination was His Grace Bishop Youssef, Bishop of the Diocese of Southern USA, along with Fr. Matthias Farid, Fr. Felimon Mikhail, Fr. Mina Wahba, Fr. Macarious Shehata, Fr. Gregory Bishay. The New – …

Archdeacon Youssef Ragheb Abdelmalek reposed peacefully on the evening of February 17, 2008. Archdeacon Youssef was born in Egypt on March 8, 1923. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Cairo University in 1948. He worked as an Engineer for many years and reached the rank of Deputy Chairmen of the National Organization of water and Sanitary Drainage in Cairo. He served in many churches in Egypt before coming to California in 1985. – …

Due to the presence of HH the Pope at the Monastery, the Orthodox Russian Delegate headed there on the evening of Thursday, December 16 to meet HH at His papal Residence at the Monastery. His Holiness the Pope received them and discussed matters concerning the Theological dialogue between the two Orthodox families and the Orthodox cooperation at the Ecumenical Councils especially at the World Council of Churches, also the Orthodox Joint responsibilities in confronting the – …

October 25, 2006–His Holiness Pope Shenouda III had a successful spinal surgery at the Cleveland Clinic on Sunday, October 22, 2006. The surgery and immediate recovery have been excellent. His Holiness the Pope is currently receiving routine physical therapy, which is the natural follow-up to such surgery. Pope Shenouda is overseeing the daily affairs of the Coptic Orthodox Church from his hospital suite in Cleveland. On Monday, October 23, 2006, His Holiness the Pope called – …

Under the guidance and leadership of His Grace Bishop Serapion, the Diocese of Los Angeles has established a theological library in the name of the great Alexandrian fathers, St. Athanasius and St. Cyril, with the mission to establish a library to encourage the study of the biblical and patristic heritage of the great Alexandrian Fathers, especially Saint Athanasius and Saint Cyril. It is hoped that this effort will help respond to the theological, pastoral, and – …

In August 2003, the Coptic Orthodox Church, through the leadership of His Holiness Pope Shenouda III and the Holy Synod, issued a formal declaration against homosexuality and same-sex marriage. In part, the declaration stated, Same-sex marriage is against the Divine Plan for marriage and its purpose of procreation. “But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined – …

Our Beloved, the Blessed Children of the Holy Church, Peace and grace from our God and Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. It gives us great pleasure to see how the Church’s children living abroad are greatly concerned about helping our needy brothers and sisters in Egypt , especially the orphans. We find that it is written in the Holy Bible, “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Fr. is this: to visit orphans and – …

On Wednesday, December 6, the Pope went to the Monastery, whereas the problem was not yet resolved. And there, a delegate of Assiout Priests and Lay members met with the Pope, they presented Him a report, and then they met HH the next week where they presented Him another detailed report signed by the Clergy of Assiout, Deyrout, Manful, Quesada and other regions. Then the Bishop of Manfalot arrived there to meet with HH and – …

Friday and Saturday, December 9-10, 2005, the Heads of the Oriental Orthodox Churches in the Middle East, His Holiness Pope Shenouda III of the Coptic Church, His Holiness Patriarch Zakka I of the Syrian Church and His Holiness Catholicos Aram I of the Armenian Church-Catholicosate of Cilicia, held their 8th meeting, at St. Ephrem Monastery, Ma’arat Saydnaya, Damascus, Syria. This fellowship was founded in 1996. During their deliberations, the three Heads addressed issues related to – …

Report of Catholic-Oriental Orthodox Commission A Shared “Ecclesial Patrimony Stemming From Apostolic Times” VATICAN CITY, FEB. 12, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Here is the report issued at the conclusion of the fourth meeting of the International Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue Between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. The meeting took place Jan. 28-Feb. 3 in Rome. The fourth meeting of the International Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches took – …

March 7, 2008–-In response to a recent news story about Jonathan McCullum, a U.S. Exchange Student who claimed he was starved by a Coptic Christian family due to church fasts, the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles, Southern California, and Hawaii clarifies as follows: Although the Church strongly encourages her believers to observe periods of fasting according to Apostolic Tradition, fasting is a voluntary spiritual sacrifice. The Church does not impose her fasting days on anyone. – …

By God’s grace and the prayers of our beloved father, H.G. Bishop Serapion, the new church building of St. Demiana Church in Bakersfield is completed and the opening will take place on Saturday November 20th, 2004. H.G. Bishop Serapion will bless the event by praying Vespers on Friday, November 19th and celebrating the Divine Liturgy on Saturday, November 20th. Following the Divine Liturgy on Saturday, there will be a spiritual celebration. Everyone is invited to – …