The vaccination campaign against Covid-19 in the Vatican which began on Wednesday continues with both Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI receiving their first doses of the vaccine.

In his message for Lent 2021, Pope Francis calls on the faithful to “renew our faith, draw from the living waters of hope, and receive with open hearts the love of God.”

For the Auxiliary Bishop of Baghdad, the visit to Najaf will be “one of the highlights” of the apostolic journey to Iraq. The Shi‘a leader “is not a politician, but a man of faith” who works for human fraternity. The new coronavirus pandemic will prevent the usual crowds, but Christians and others are waiting for the pontiff “with joy and hope”.

TAYBEH, Palestine - On Sunday, January 31, 2021, the Governor of Ramallah and al-Bireh Dr. Laila Ghannam announced a one-week lockdown in Taybeh after the discovery of cases of the new UK strain of COVID-19 in the village. Among those affected are the workers and residents of Beit Afram Elderly Home, a centre administered by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

Statement of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East on COVID-19 Vaccines

Considering the spread of Covid-19 pandemic which afflicts the world and its people today, and subsequent to the production of its vaccines, the Antiochian Orthodox Church, after consultation between His Beatitude and the Antiochian Hierarchs, would like to clarify the following to her faithful:
1. In the Pastoral Letter issued in 2019, the Church reaffirmed “the sanctity of life and the necessity of respecting it alongside her openness to scientific advancement.”

We are the Church of the Paschal Mystery:

A history of Martyrs and Monks

Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako

Next Sunday, February 14, 2021 (practically Monday, the 15th) begins the period of the great fast in our Chaldean Church. This fasting is an occasion for each of us to rediscover the space of inner freedom in our daily life so that we can move freely, despite our preoccupations and upheavals with the coronavirus pandemic.

Pope Francis highlights the plight of thousands of unaccompanied minors whom he says are particularly vulnerable, asking authorities to show special attention to their needs. He also looks to the International Day of Prayer and Reflection Against Human Trafficking on Monday.

All Christians are invited to participate in an online Prayer Marathon on Monday, 8 February, marking the 7th International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking.

The marathon has been organized by the International Committee of the World Day, coordinated by Talitha Kum, the network of consecrated life against trafficking in persons of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG).

The Catholic Center for Studies and Media (CCSM) in Jordan celebrated on Thursday, February 4, through the Visual Communication Technology, the World Interfaith Harmony Week, (February 1-7) under the title, "Harmony and Brotherhood" and the International Day of Human Fraternity (February 4).

We extend our apostolic benediction, benevolent prayers and greetings to our brethren, His Beatitude Mor Baselius Thomas I, Catholicos of India, and their Eminences the Metropolitans; our spiritual children: Very Reverend Corepiscopoi, Reverend priests, monks, nuns and deacons and the entire blessed Syriac Orthodox people throughout the world. May the divine providence embrace them through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and St. Peter, Chief of the Apostles, St. Jacob of Serugh, and the rest of the Martyrs and Saints. Amen.

The UN Secretary-General has called for more commitment towards promoting cultural and religious tolerance, in a message to mark the first celebration of the International Day of Human Fraternity, observed on Thursday.

“Around the world, deep-seated discrimination, acts of intolerance and hate crimes persist against people simply because of their religion or belief, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation”, he said in a video broadcast during a commemorative event, held online.

Your Beatitude,

On this occasion of your official visit as the newly appointed Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, we welcome you not as a stranger, but as an old trusted friend. The news that His Holiness Pope Francis had appointed you as Latin Patriarch was widely welcomed both by your community and by all who are committed to the well-being of the Christian presence in the Holy Land.

During a virtual ceremony commemorating the first-ever International Day for Human Fraternity on Thursday, Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, highlight the importance of fraternity and solidarity. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Moroccan-French activist Latifah Ibn Ziaten were also presented with the 2021 Zayed Award for Human Fraternity.

Pope Francis highlights the theme of fraternity in a video message for the first International Day of Human Fraternity celebrated on Thursday. He calls for a world of mutual respect, stressing that we can either choose to be brothers and sisters or we lose everything.

The world is about to celebrate the International Day of Human Fraternity for the first time on 4 February. One of the people who brought this about, Judge Abdel Salam, tells Vatican News that the annual celebration of Human Fraternity will “renew ideas and visions for its realization”.

The Holy Father will mark the International Day of Human Fraternity in a virtual meeting on 4 February, the date set by the United Nations General Assembly for this new annual occasion. He will do so together with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad Al-Tayyeb. The event will be hosted in Abu Dhabi, in the presence of the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed.

Pope Francis' prayer intention for the month of February sends a powerful message against the various kinds of violence against women, which he describes as the “degradation of all humanity”.

Pope Francis is to meet top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani during the first-ever papal visit to Iraq in March, a senior Catholic cleric told AFP on Thursday.

The official theme song of World Youth Day (WYD) 2023, scheduled to take place in Lisbon, Portugal, was released on Wednesday, exactly two years since the announcement of the city chosen by Pope Francis to host the next world meeting for young people.

Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako, Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, invites Christians to participate in a 3-day “Resurrection of Nineveh” fasting and prayer initiative for peace in Iraq, as the nation mourns last week's suicide bombing attack in Baghdad.