JERUSALEM - On December 28 and 29, 2021, the various Christian leaders of the thrice-holy city came to the Latin Patriarchate to exchange Christmas greetings with His Beatitude Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.

This is a long-standing tradition, which takes place not once but twice a year, during Easter and Christmas. During Christmas, greetings are exchanged three times: first on December 25th, then on January 7th (Orthodox Christmas Day, which corresponds to December 25th in the Julian calendar) and finally on January 19th (Christmas of the Armenian-Apostolic Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which corresponds to January 6 in our calendar).

and the Remembrance of Mor Baselius, Mor Gregorius and the New Year at St. Mary Church in Cairo

On December 31, 2021, His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and Supreme Head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church, celebrated the Holy Qurobo for the Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord, and the Remembrance of Mor Baselius, Mor Gregorius and the New Year at St. Mary Church in Cairo, Egypt.

In a message to the Christian Media Center, His Holiness Pope Francis speaks to the young people of Bethlehem and the Holy Land, urging them to remain faithful to their roots in the land where Jesus was born and to always look to the horizon.

By Christopher Wells

In the face of sufferings, made worse in these days by the coronavirus pandemic, His Holiness Pope Francis has invited the young people of the Holy Land to “Look ahead! Look to the horizon.”

BETHLEHEM – Despite the absence of pilgrims during the end of the year due to health restrictions, a spirit of celebration and joy have illuminated this Christmas of 2021, marked by the presence of many local Christians who came to attend the celebrations.

It all started with the scouts' parade. Dressed in their best uniforms, they made the streets of Bethlehem vibrate with their musical instruments: trumpets, drums, clarinets...

The feast of St. Stephen the protodeacon holds a special place in the Armenian Church Calendar: on this occasion, His Holiness Catholicos of Cilicia Aram I presides over the Divine Liturgy dedicated to the feast and delivers the message of the feast during a celebration prepared by the Seminarians, in the Main Hall of the Catholicosate.

“The Spirit of God never ceases to work and to give rise to creators of fraternity, solidarity and unity,” writes Cardinal Parolin in a message conveying His Holiness Pope Francis’ greetings and prayers for young people of the Taizé Community.

By Christopher Wells

An eagerly awaited in-person meeting of European youth, led by the Taizé Community, has once again been postponed due to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic, with the meeting now scheduled to take place in July in Turin.

“Heaven and earth are made one today

for Christ is born.

Today God is come upon the earth

and man is gone up into the Heavens.

Today He Who by nature is invisible, for man’s sake is seen in the flesh”.

(Sticheron 2 of the Christmas Entreaty)

This event, this mystery, is celebrated today in a solemn way in praise and thanksgiving throughout the world by the Orthodox Church of Christ, especially by the Church of Jerusalem and the city of Bethlehem.

On this holy and glorious day of the feast of the birth in the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, we extend our Apostolic benediction, warmest greetings and best wishes to our brother in Christ H. B. Mor Basilios Thomas 1st, Catholicos of India, H. E. Mor Gregorios Joseph the Metropolitan Trustee of our Church in India and all our beloved Metropolitans Archbishops and Bishops of our Holy Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch in the whole world.

To our brothers, Archbishops and Bishops, Fathers of our Holy Synod of Antioch,

To the Priests, Deacons, religious and consecrated men and women,

To all the faithful people in Lebanon, the Middle East and the Church of Extension

Peace and love in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ:

«ܝܶܫܽܘܥ ܦܳܪܽܘܩܰܢ»

“Jesus, Our Savior”

“Because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1: 21)

On this blessed Christmas, we are happy to present our warmest congratulations to all of you, dear members of the clergy and faithful of our Syriac Catholic Church…

In his "Urbi et Orbi" Christmas message given at midday in Saint Peter's Square, His Holiness Pope Francis expressed the joy of this day when God shows us through the birth of Jesus the way of encounter and dialogue so that we might know it and follow it in trust and hope, something needed more than ever in our troubled world.

THEODOROS II

BY THE GRACE OF GOD POPE AND PATRIARCH OF ALEXANDRIA AND ALL AFRICA

TO THE FULNESS OF THE APOSTOLIC AND PATRIARCHAL THRONE OF ALEXANDRIA

GRACE AND MERCY AND PEACE FROM OUR LORD AND GOD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST BORN IN BETHLEHEM

“Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace goodwill to all men”

My beloved and blessed children,

Christ is born!

As it does every year, so this year too the Nativity comes to assure us that the salvation of the world is found in the rebirth of our souls, the soul of each person…

Joint communiqué issued by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres; His Beatitude Patriarch Bechara Boutros Rahi, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and Head of the Maronite Church; His Eminence Abdul Latif Derian, Sunni Grand Mufti; Judge Sheikh Mahdi El-Yahfoufi representing His Eminence Sheikh Ali Al Khatib, Deputy Head of the Higher Islamic Shiite Council; His Beatitude Patriarch John X Yaziji, Patriarch of Antioch for the Greek Orthodox Church; His Eminence Sheikh Sami Abil Mona, Druze Sheikh Aql and Head of the Druze Unitarian Council; and His Holiness Catholicos Aram I Keshishian, Head of the Catholicosate of the House of Cilicia of the Armenian Orthodox Church.

Michael Haddad, paralysed from the chest down, is presented with a book blessed by His Holiness Pope Francis which he will carry with him across the globe to Norway’s seed bank, in hope of preserving it for future generations.

Saint Joseph Hospital is a Catholic non-profit facility in Beirut that the economic crisis has brought to the verge of collapse. Since its establishment over sixty years ago it has been taking care of the most abandoned people, but is now at risk of closure for lack of secure funding.

On December 18, 2021, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and Supreme Head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II inaugurated the “Christmas Market 2021” in the garden of the Syriac Martyrs in Damascus, Syria.

His Holiness Pope Francis establishes the Fratelli tutti Vatican Foundation within the Fabbrica di San Pietro. The new institution aims at investing “in cultural and spiritual formation through events, experiences, pathways and spiritual exercises,” in order to promote the principles of the Pope’s 2020 encyclical.

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, gave his weekly Wednesday sermon on the evening of Wednesday December 16th from the Papal Headquarters in Cairo. The sermon was broadcast live on several Christian satellite television channels, as well as over the Internet on the Church’s Coptic Media Center channel, COC. The sermon was given in the absence of a live congregation.

His Beatitude John X, Patriarch of Antioch and all East, met Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, Acting General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, at the Patriarchal Residence in Balamand. The meeting took place in the presence of the Right Reverend Archimandrite Jack Khalil, Dean of the St. John of Damascene Institute of Theology - University of Balamand.

December 18th marks the United Nations International Migrants Day focusing on “Harnessing the potential of human mobility.” The Catholic Church's International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) supports projects around the world with that goal in mind.

The Patriarchs and Heads of Local Churches of Jerusalem issued a statement on the current threat to the Christian presence in the Holy Land and the challenges that Christians are facing today. Please find below the full statement.