On Monday, January 24th, 2022, a gathering of the Cilician Brotherhood residing in Antelias was held in the main hall of the Armenian Catholicosate in Antelias, presided by His Holiness Catholicos of Cilicia Aram I.

During the gathering, His Holiness Aram I informed the brotherhood on the activities and events to take place within the proclamation of 2022 as the year of the Armenian Diaspora.

JERUSALEM - As life resumes in Jerusalem after the snowfall on Wednesday, January 26th 2022, His Beatitude Mgr Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, visited the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem for the traditional exchange of greetings after the Christmas season.

On the calendar, the Armenians celebrate Christmas on January 19th. In keeping with the now well-established tradition, His Beatitude Mgr Pizzaballa thus visited the Armenian Patriarchate.

Declaration of His Holiness Catholicos Aram I Holy See of Cilicia

To the Prelates,
The Clergy,
The Community Leaders
of the Great House of Cilicia,
and to the daughters and sons
of our people,

On the eve of 2022, from the Mother Monastery of the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia in Antelias, Lebanon, we greet and bless the National General Assembly, the Religious and Executive Councils of the National Central Committee, the Brotherhood, the Prelates and the Community Leaders, and every union, organization and educational, cultural, and charitable structure that operates in our national life, as well as the beloved daughters and sons of our people.

JERUSALEM - On Thursday, January 27, for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, a prayer was celebrated at the Cenacle by Fr. Nikodemus C. Schnabel, and in the presence of His Beatitude Mgr Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.

Every day, from Saturday, January 22 to Sunday, January 30, Christians from all walks of life are invited to gather in a different place to pray for the unity of the Church.

His Eminence Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher's visit to Beirut will take place from January 31 to February 4, and includes meetings with political and religious authorities to mark 75 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Lebanon, the nation faces a deep social, political and economic crisis.

“Ecumenism in a Time of Pandemic: From Crisis to Opportunity” is the title of a working document presented by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and which is the result of a survey conducted in 2021 among all the Bishops' Conferences and Eastern Catholic Synods in the world.

THE Lebanese are hoping that in 2022 there will be a change in the country’s fortunes after several years of worsening economic, social, and political chaos. So far, however, there are no signs of the turnaround that the country is longing for.

Lebanese Christians are counting on support in the form of prayers from the worldwide Church in the current Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, organised by the World Council of Churches (WCC). Significantly, the Beirut-based Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) has been the convener of this year’s Week of Prayer.

L’œcuménisme est le rachat d’une rupture. Il n’existe que pour répondre à la prière sacerdotale du Christ : « Qu’ils soient un », et s’effacer. Le sujet particulièrement délicat de l’unité de l’Église se prête souvent aux discours polis de la bienséance. Ce n’est pas celui qu’a choisi le patriarche des arméniens-catholiques, Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian pour en parler, hier soir (dimanche 16 Janvier 2022), lors de l’ouverture de la Semaine de prière en la cathédrale des Saints-Élie-et-Grégoire, place Debbas, à Beyrouth.

In his Message for the World Day of Social Communications, His Holiness Pope Francis says listening is an indispensable first step in human communication, and a dimension of love.

By Christopher Wells

After focusing last year on seeing reality and conveying it to others, His Holiness Pope Francis in his 2022 Message for the World Communications Day emphasized the quality of listening, which he said “is decisive in the grammar of communication and is a condition for genuine dialogue.”

A conference on the themes of the Synod desired by the Pope is scheduled for March 15-17. Representatives from the dioceses, the Roman Curia, local and international charitable organisations will be present. Maronite Archbishop of Damascus: an opportunity "to rediscover our mission". The exodus of young people abroad shrinking an already tiny Christian minority.

On Wednesday 6/19 January 2022, the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem celebrated the Despotic feast of Theophany according to the Status Quo.

On the morning of the feast, the Service of the Sanctification of the water was observed at the Catholicon of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre by His Beatitude Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III…

His Holiness Pope Francis urges the journalists of The Holy Land Review to tell the world the story of fraternity among Christians and among all the children of Abraham.

By Devin Watkins

A group of around 50 journalists from The Holy Land Review, accompanied by Fr. Francesco Patton, OFM, the Custos of the Holy Land, met the Pope for a private audience on Monday 17 January 2022, morning.

HOLY LAND – During his pastoral visit to Jordan, His Beatitude Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, spoke about the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which opened on January 22nd and will end on January 30th.

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which was established in 1908, was first called the Octave of Christian Unity. It was renamed "Universal Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in 1935, at the initiative of Fr. Paul Couturiers, a French priest later called the “father of spiritual ecumenism”.

On January 17, 2022, His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and Supreme Head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church, received a delegation from St. Ephrem Patriarchal Development Committee (EPDC), at the Patriarchate Headquarters in Bab Touma, Damascus, Syria.

For the forthcoming 2022 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Cardinal Mario Grech and Cardinal Kurt Koch invite all Christians to pray for unity and to continue to journey together.

By Vatican News

In a joint letter sent on 28 October 2021 to all bishops responsible for ecumenism, Cardinal Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and Cardinal Grech, General Secretary of the Synod of the Bishops, offered suggestions aimed at implementing the ecumenical dimension of the synodal process in the local churches.

On January 16, 2022, on the occasion of the Feast of the Blessing of the Virgin Mary on the Sowing (15 January), 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 at St. Mary Church in Damascus, Syria.

On Friday, January 14, the Catholic Churches in Jordan marked the 22nd annual national and Christian pilgrimage to the Baptism Site during which Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem His Beatitude Pierbattista Pizzaballa celebrated a festive Holy Mass at the Church of the Baptism of Christ.

On Thursday, 1/14 January 2022 the Patriarchate celebrated the Despotic feast of the circumcision according to the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ and the commemoration of Saint Basil the Great, Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia.

This feast was celebrated with an All-night vigil at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, with Matins in the Catholicon and of the Church of the Resurrection and the Divine Liturgy at the All-holy Tomb.

On January 8, 2022, His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and Supreme Head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church, held a reception in honor of His Grace Bishop Zoltán Balog, Head of the Reformed Church in Hungary who is accompanied by a delegation from Hungary who is visiting Syria for a pilgrimage to the ancient Christian sites. The reception was held at the Patriarchate Headquarters in Bab Touma, Damascus - Syria.

On January 10, 2022, His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and Supreme Head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church, visited the construction site of the Latakia Community Center in Syria.