Christian world

Mar Benyamin Elya Consecrated Bishop of the Assyrian Diocese of Victoria & New Zealand

On Sunday 16th July 2017 by the grace of Almighty God, the Archdiocese of Australia, New Zealand and Lebanon under the leadership of His Beatitude Mar Meelis Zaia AM was blessed with the consecration of His Grace Mar Benyamin Elya as the first Bishop of the newly-created Diocese of Victoria and New Zealand.

Another Orthodox church profaned in Albania

The desecration of Orthodox churches, monasteries, and holy sites has become common practice in modern-day Albania. The latest scandal was caused by a report of the TV station Top Channel, reports AgionOros.ru.

Pope Supports International Campaign on Climate Change

Pope Francis expressed his support to an international campaign on climate, inspired by his encyclical Laudato Si’. On the official Internet site (livelaudatosi.org), he invited to adhere to the initiative signing the commitment.

Two years after the publication of the papal document (2015), “the Global Catholic Climate Movement aims to mobilize at least one million Catholics to become directly engaged in turning Laudato Si’ into action to care for the planet.”

Advertising abortion and IVF banned in Azerbaijan

President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan has approved amendments to the law “On the Protection of the Health of the Population,” stipulating the prohibition of advertisements on abortion and In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), reports Interfax-Religion.

The text of the amendments was published on the website of the president on Thursday.

Visit of a Hungarian Delegation to Help Persecuted Christians

His Holiness Mor Ignatius Aphrem II received a delegation from the Hungarian Ministry of Human Capacities led by Mr. Tamas Torok, Deputy State Secretary for the Aid of Persecuted Christians in the presence of His Excellency the Ambassador of Hungary to Lebanon, at Mor Gabriel Monastery, Ajaltoun – Mount Lebanon.

The reception was also attended by His Beatitude Mor Ignatius Youssef III Younan, Syriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, and by their Eminences the Archbishops: Mor Theophilos George Saliba, Archbishop of Mount Lebanon and Tripoli, Mor Selwanos Boutros Al-Nehmeh, Archbishop of Homs, Hama and Environs, Mor Justinos Boulos Safar, Patriarchal Vicar in Zahleh and Beqaa, Mor Clemis Daniel Kourieh, Metropolitan of Beirut, Mor Chrysostomos Mikhael Shemoun, Patriarchal Vicar in the Patriarchal Benevolent Institutions in Atchaneh, and Mor Timotheos Matta Al-Khoury, Patriarchal Vicar in the Patriarchal Archdiocese of Damascus. His Grace Mor Ephrem Yousif Abba, Syriac Catholic Archbishop of Baghdad and Basra was also present in addition to priests, monks, deacons and a number of displaced families from Iraq and Syria living in the monastery.

Uknown Hippocrates recipes accidentally found in St. Catherine’s Monastery on Mt. Sinai

A 6th century AD manuscript containing recipes of the “father of medicine,” the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, was recently discovered in the library of St. Catherine’s Monastery on Mt. Sinai, reports RIA-Novosti, with reference to the Egyptian newspaper Ahram. The manuscript was discovered during restoration work in the library. The discovery was publicly announced by the Egyptian Minister of Antiquites Khaled El-Anani. The manuscript also contains three other medical recipes written by an anonymous scribe. One of them is illustrated with drawings of medicinal herbs.