Dear brothers and sisters,

Christ is risen, alleluia!

Here we are once again gathered to conclude this Week of Prayer and Celebration. We have again reached the Sepulcher to announce emphatically and joyfully that Christ is risen, that death no longer has power over him and each of us.

On Thursday, 12/25 March 2021, the Patriarchate held a Doxology at the Catholicon of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for the 200th Anniversary of the 25 March 1821 Revolution.

The Doxology was offered as a thanksgiving to God for His strengthening of our Nation’s struggle to be liberated from the four hundred years of slavery to the Ottoman Empire.

JERUSALEM - The Holy Week for the year 2021 has officially started in Jerusalem with the celebrations of Palm Sunday. For the first time as Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Pierbattista Pizzaballa presided over the morning Palm Sunday Pontifical Mass at the Holy Sepulchre and the afternoon procession from Bethphage on Mount of Olives to Lions' Gate near St. Anne Church in the Old City.

Dear brothers and sisters

May the Lord grant you peace!

Last year, in this period, we were all shocked by the pandemic breaking into our personal and collective lives. Everything was new, and we felt unprepared for such a situation. In reality, a tiny virus paralyzed ordinary life worldwide and wiped out economic and social programs in almost every country.

This past weekend, the Armenian Apostolic Church commemorated its patron saint, St. Gregory the Illuminators’ Commitment to the Pit. This day coincides with the name day of the Holy See of Cilicia’s St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral.

In previous years, St. Gregory the Illuminator’s has been celebrated in grand fashion with many faithfuls staying overnight in the cathedral.

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.

Pope Francis reflects on World Water Day celebrated each year on 22 March saying it is an occasion for reflection and a call to action as many, across the globe, do not have access to clean water and sanitation.

While the spreading of the coronavirus is about to be contained, challenges remain in countries where the pandemic is downplayed, or even denied. Rumours and conspiracy theories of all kinds around vaccination programmes are deterring people from taking the vaccine.

Father Rifat Bader Is An Expert In Relations Between The Catholic Church And The Arab Region, As Well As A Founding Member Of The KAICIID-Supported Platform For Dialogue And Cooperation In The Arab World. He Acted As A Spokesperson In Three Papal Visits To Jordan And Spoke With KAICIID About Pope Francis’ Historical Visit To Iraq.

On Tuesday, March 16, 2021, an election of a council of priests was held at the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem, in the presence of Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarchal Vicar for Jerusalem and the Holy Land Bishop Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo, and Patriarchal Vicar for Migrants and Asylum Seekers Fr. Rafic Nahra.

The Holy See's representative at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) underlines the importance of solidarity, humane economic models, and equitable access to vaccines as indispensable elements in the world’s fight against the devastating effects of the ongoing health emergency.

Ten years after the crisis that engulfed the Arab Republic, the Apostolic Nuncio to Syria reiterates the need for aid to lift people out of poverty, where schools and hospitals are often lacking, as "the ground is trampled and the skies furrowed by the armed forces of five powers at odds with each other".

Pope Francis renews his appeal for an end to Syria’s decade-long civil war, as the people of the Middle Eastern nation struggle to survive.

Each year, the Church takes up a collection on Good Friday to assist Christians in the Holy Land and help protect the Holy Places. In a letter addressed to the Bishops of the world, the Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches calls on all Christians to offer their generous support to this year’s initiative.

On Wednesday, March 10th, 2021, His Holiness Catholicos Aram I presided over the Mid-Lent Sunrise Service and delivered his message at St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral in Antelias.

On Tuesday 9 March 2021, His Beatitude our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos had a pastoral telecommunication through zoom with His Eminence Archbishop Christophoros of Kyriakoupolis and the Clergy of Jordan.

HAIFA - The Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land held their ordinary plenary assembly in Haifa at the Stella Maris Pilgrims Center, as guests of Carmelite Fathers on March 2-3, 2021. Many members were present in person, others were connected via Skype, while others in unity by offering their physical sufferings or the difficulties of isolation for the success of the work of the assembly.

By the mercy of God Almighty

John X

Patriarch of Antioch and All the East

to My brothers, Pastors of the Holy Church of Antioch

My sons and daughters, all over this Apostolic See

Beloved spiritual Brethren and Children,

At the beginning of Forty-Day Lent, we bow the knees of the soul before the Benevolent Creator. We shed tears of repentance, asking for His saints’ intercession and the succor of the Virgin Mary. We say in unison these words: “Lord, O Lord open unto us the door of Thy Mercy.”

Speaking to journalists aboard the papal flight bringing him back to Rome after his historic visit to Iraq, Pope Francis looks back at some of the most salient milestones of the Apostolic Journey.

Pope Francis concludes his Apostolic Journey to Iraq that took him to 6 cities and sites in the north and south of the country. He comforted the people, especially Catholics and Christians, harshly tried by sectarian violence and terrorism, and appealed for tolerance, fraternity, hope and peace.