On May 1st, 2021,His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Armenian Church, Holy See of Cilicia, accompanied by H.E. Archbishop Shahe Panossian, Prelate of the Armenian Prelacy of Lebanon visited Bkerki, on the invitation of His Beatitude Mar Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, Maronite Catholic Patriarch of Antioch. Present at the luncheon was the Vicar General of the Antioch Church Archbishop Paul Sayyah.

On Tuesday morning, April 27th, 2021, His Holiness Aram I, accompanied by Cilician brothers, visited the Birds’ Nest Orphanage, in Byblos, where the Armenian Genocide Orphans’ “Aram Bezikian” museum is located, and presided over the requiem service and wreath laying held in front of Maria Jacobson’s tomb.

Pope Francis highlights the importance of inclusiveness and fraternity in his 2021 Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, stressing that an ever wider “we” will help renew the human family, build a future of justice and peace, and ensure that no one is left behind.

On Tuesday morning of the Bright Week, 21 April/ 4 May 2021, the Western Churches of Jerusalem paid their visit to the Patriarchate of Jerusalem on the occasion of our Pascha.

The first visit we received was that of the Monastic Brotherhood of the Franciscans, under the leadership of their Abbot, the Custos Reverend Francesco Patton.

To brother bishops, priests, men and women religious and all the faithful of the Diocese

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

May the Lord give you peace!

This year, in response to the heartfelt wish of Pope Francis, the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization is organizing a prayer initiative for the whole Church to invoke an end to the pandemic (ef. Acts 12:5).

On Monday May 3, 2021, Midday, His Beatitude Patriarch John X met with the leaders of the Christian sects/communities in Aleppo at the Salon of the Greek Orthodox Diocese, where the meeting was attended by the right Reverend, his grace Bishop John Gambert (Roman Catholic), Archbishop Massis Zoboyan (Armenian Orthodox), Bishop Boutros Marayati (Armenian Catholics), Bishop Antoine Odo (Chaldean), and Bishop Antoine Shahda (Syriac Catholics)…

The glorious exit from the dead and the Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was celebrated by the Patriarchate on Easter Sunday 12 April/ 2 May 2021.

On this Feast, the Church, being grateful, luminous and rendering glory to God, commemorates that our Incarnate Lord Jesus Christ went down to Hades from the Cross and was risen from the dead.

The Service of the second Resurrection was observed at 12 noon on Easter Day.

This ceremony, just as bright as that of the All-night Vigil Liturgy of the Resurrection, began at the Patriarchate Reception Hall with the reading of the 9th Hour of Easter, as the choir was chanting “Christ is risen” in slow Byzantine music.

His Beatitude Patriarch John X presided over the Bright Monday Vespers in the Cathedral of Elijah the Prophet in Aleppo on the evening of the Great and Holy Easter (Pascha). During prayers, the designated gospel was read in fourteen languages, which are: Arabic, English, French, Greek, Italian, Russian, Persian, Romanian, Japanese, Spanish, Syriac, German, Armenian and Ukrainian.

On April 23, 2021, His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II attended a Recital entitled “Light after Darkness” on the occasion of the Great Lent and Easter, at St. George Patriarchal Cathedral in Bab Touma - Damascus.

After more than a century, President Biden on Saturday became the first sitting US president to recognize the devastating tragedy that befell the Armenian community of Anatolia as genocide. In his historic statement, issued on Armenian Martyrs’ Day (April 24), President Biden stated, “Each year on this day, we remember the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocide and recommit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever again occurring…. We honor their story.

On Palm Sunday, 12/25 April 2021, the Patriarchate celebrated the triumphant entry of the Lord in Jerusalem after the Resurrection of Lazarus, when the children of the Jews were crying out loud, “Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord” and had their garments lain on the streets along with palm tree branches to welcome Him.

On the occasion of 24th April which is the Remembrance Day of one and a half million Armenian martyrs, the victims of genocide which was planned and executed by the Ottoman Turkish Empire in 1915, a Eucharistic celebration was held in the court of the Catholicosate, in Antelias, Lebanon, under the auspices of His Holiness Catholicos Aram I.

By the mercy of God the Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and all of Palestine

to all the gathering of the Church, grace and mercy and peace

from the All-Holy and Life-giving Tomb of the Risen Christ

“Now all things are filled with light,

heaven and earth and the nethermost regions of the earth.

Let all creation, therefore,

celebrate the arising of Christ, whereby it is established.

(Troparion Ode 3 of the Easter Canon by John Damascene)

Pope Francis calls for urgency in joint efforts on the path towards protecting our planet, in two separate video messages for Earth Day 2021.

By Vatican News staff writer

Commemorating the 51st Earth Day on Thursday, Pope Francis sent two video messages reminding everyone of the importance of working together to protect our planet.

It is difficult to go to churches on foot because there are no churches in every quarter, yet allowing people to go on foot to attend Holy Masses enables the faithful who live near churches to attend payers.

Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East

Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East

Eight Years Since the Kidnapping of the Bishops of Aleppo

Beloved Brethren and Spiritual Children

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

On April 22, 2013, same as today, our brothers the Bishops of Aleppo, Metropolitans Paul Yazigi and John Ibrahim, were kidnapped.

HAIFA - On Sunday, April 18, 2021, the traditional procession of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Haifa was not entirely traditional, owing to COVID-19 safety concerns. For the second year in a row, the faithful could not march on foot, alongside their bishop and fellow friends and family, to relive the 1919 procession of bringing back the statue of the Virgin Mary, that had been transferred to the parish church in the city of Haifa in 1914, to its sanctuary of Stella Maris on Mount Carmel.

In 2015, at the height of centennial of the Armenian Genocide, the Holy See of Cilicia launched a lawsuit against the Republic of Turkey in efforts to acquire and reclaim the historical Catholicosate of Sis, which was for centuries the Seat of the Catholicosate and continues to be lawfully and legitimately owned by the Holy See of Cilicia.