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. – …

On Saturday, March 14, St. Marina Coptic Orthodox Church will hold a spiritual day for junior-high youth on the topic “Creation versus Evolution.” The aim of the programme is to educate young Orthodox Christian youth on the Church’s teaching on the creation versus evolution debate. In addition, the day will offer fellowship, skits, and games to both educate and entertain the youth. The schedule will be as follows: 10:00 – 10:30 Welcome 10:30 – 11:00 – …

The word Copt is derived from the Greek word Aigyptos, which was, in turn, derived from "Hikaptah", one of the names for Memphis, the first capital of Ancient Egypt. Following the Arab conquest of Egypt in 640 A.D., the land of Egypt has been called "dar al-Gibt" (home of the Egyptians) and since Christianity was the official religion of Egypt at the time, the word "Gibt" came to refer to the practitioners of Christianity as – …

The Lord Christ and the Cross The Lord invited to bear the Cross and said: “If anyone desires to come after ‎Me, let him deny himself, and take up his Cross, and follow Me” (Matt. 16:24; ‎Mark 8:34). And He said to the rich young man: “Go your way, sell whatever you ‎have and give to the poor,…and come, take up the Cross, and follow Me.” (Mark ‎‎10:21). ‎ He made the bearing of the – …

We all know that our Lord Jesus Christ raised Lazarus from the dead after four days. The woman who poured the fragrant oil was celebrating–albeit unknowingly–the end of the stench of death and the beginning of a new era. On that day, our Lord Jesus Christ was invited to the house of His beloved. Who are those beloved? They were Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Martha. And what about this new era? We – …

Introduction Occasionally, the Copts have been described as a schismatic eastern Christian minority, a lonely community in the land of their forebears. They have been forgotten since they chose living in oblivion after the tragedy of Chalcedon (451 A.D.) which was followed by a new wave of persecution inflicted upon them by fellow Christians and Byzantine rulers. Though they were not unknown to mediaeval and early modern travellers from Europe, Western Christendom appears to have – …

Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, this holy period is specified for correction, purification, an enlightenment of our entire being, both physically and spiritually. Great Lent is considered the spring of our spiritual life, and for every soul that yearns for her Heavenly Bridegroom, this is considered “a honeymoon,” in which the soul relinquishes worldly cares in order to be free for the Bridegroom and can say with the bride of the Song of – …