JERUSALEM – On March 2nd, 2022, His Beatitude Mgr Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, celebrated Ash Wednesday during a Eucharistic Mass held at the Co-Cathedral of the Patriarchate.

This celebration, which is traditionally held six weeks and a half before Easter, marks the beginning of Lent. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday, during which many Christians eat sweets, burn their previous year’s Holy Week palms to collect the ashes for the next day’s celebration et receive the sacrament of reconciliation.

Pope Francis’ historic visit was a blessing to all Iraqis. it has charged Iraqis with enough support and hope to achieve their desire in having a life of solidarity, compassion and dignity.

During our 1st visit to Rome this year as the heads and representatives of Iraqi Churches, we intended to thank His Holiness for taking the time to visit our beloved country. Generously, he invited us to his headquarters in the Vatican on Monday, the 28th of February 2022. In the meeting, we expressed our appreciation for his precious visit to Iraq as a dove of peace, a messenger of fraternity and love. He said emotionally “I won’t forget my visit to Iraq… I am holding your country in my heart”.

The Holy Synod of Antioch, presided by His Beatitude Patriarch John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, held its thirteenth extraordinary session in Balamand, Lebanon.

You can find the program of the celebration held by the Chaldean Patriarchate in Baghdad under the auspices of His Beatitude Patriarch Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, Chaldean Patriarch in Iraq and the World , on the occasion of the first anniversary of the historic visit of His Holiness Pope Francis to Iraq (5-8 March 2021).

Meeting a delegation of Iraqi Church religious leaders on Monday 28 February 2022, His Holiness Pope Francis encourages the local Christian communities to continue promoting dialogue so as to build fraternity and counteract extremism and fundamentalism.

By Lisa Zengarini

His Holiness Pope Francis on Monday 28 February 2022 received in audience Representatives of the Christian Churches in Iraq visiting Rome on the occasion of the first anniversary of his Apostolic Journey to the country in March 2021.

With the Mercy of God

JOHN X

Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East

To all our Beloved in the Lord

The Children of the Holy Antiochian See

Beloved,

At the dawn of this Holy and Great Lent, the Church prays in unison and cries from the depth: “Let us not pray, brethren, Pharisee-like.” By these words, the Church begins her liturgical hymns of Great Lent, imploring the Lord of the Resurrection.

The soul’s garment in this blessed season is humility. A humble prayer penetrates the heart of God.

In his message for Lent 2022, His Holiness Pope Francis invites the faithful to sow seeds of goodness, so that we might reap a harvest of salvation for ourselves and others.

By Christopher Wells

His Holiness Pope Francis based his Message for Lent 2022 on a passage from St Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, “Let us not grow tired of doing good, for in due time we shall reap our harvest, if we do not give up.

JORDAN – On February 17 and 18, 2022, the General Secretariat of JEC Jordan organized a series of meetings focusing on the spiritual journey of Saint Paul the Apostle and the spiritual aspect of His Holiness Pope Francis’ message during World Youth Day.

“Stand up. I appoint you as a witness of what you have seen.” Such were the words of Pope Francis during World Youth Day 2021, which inspired the slogan of the General Secretariat of JEC Jordan for the current year: “Arise and bear witness.” But how can we do that?

On Friday afternoon, 13/26 February 2022 at the Monastic and Patriarchal Church of Saints Constantine and Helen there was the memorial service for the repose of the souls of the departed Hagiotaphite Fathers, memorable Patriarchs, High Priests, Hieromonks, Deacons and Monks. The service was led by His Beatitude Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III with the co-prayer of Hagiotaphite High Priests, Hieromonks and Deacons…

JORDAN – On February 17 and 18, 2022, the General Secretariat of JEC Jordan organized a series of meetings focusing on the spiritual journey of Saint Paul the Apostle and the spiritual aspect of His Holiness Pope Francis’ message during World Youth Day.

“Stand up. I appoint you as a witness of what you have seen.” Such were the words of Pope Francis during World Youth Day 2021, which inspired the slogan of the General Secretariat of JEC Jordan for the current year: “Arise and bear witness.” But how can we do that?

Wadi al-Nasara, February 20, 2022

His Beatitude Patriarch John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, presided over the Liturgy of the Prodigal Son in the Patriarchal Monastery of St. George Al-Humeyra in Wadi al-Nasara, Syria. His Eminence Bishop Moussa El-Khoury and His Eminence Bishop Arsanios Dahdal, the Abbot of the monastery, as well as many priests and deacons assisted His Beatitude in the service.

Meeting with members of the Plenary of the Congregation for Eastern Churches on Friday, His Holiness Pope Francis said “humanity still seems to be groping in the dark,” highlighting the massacres from conflicts in the Middle East, in Syria and Iraq, and the “threatening winds across the steppes of Eastern Europe.”

Wadi Al-Nasara, February 19, 2022

Under the auspices of His Beatitude Patriarch John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, the General Secretariat of the Orthodox Youth Movement’s fifty-second conference was held in the Patriarchal Monastery of Saint George al-Humeyra in Wadi Al-Nasara in Syria. The Secretary-General Rene Anton took part in the conference in addition to members of the participating delegations from all the Syrian and Lebanese centers. Besides His Beatitude, the Abbot of the monastery, Bishop Arsanios Dahdal, attended.

“Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown” (Jonah 3:4).
His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, gave his weekly Wednesday sermon on the 16th of February 2021, from the Church of the Transfiguration, located in the Papal Residence at the Logos Center (Saint Anba Bishoy Monastery, Wadi El-Natroun, Egypt). A limited number of people were in attendance. The sermon was also broadcast live on several Christian satellite channels and over the Internet, on the Church’s Coptic Media Center channel (COC).

His Holiness Pope Francis releases the theme for the second World Day for Grandparents and Elderly, which aims to reconsider and value grandparents and the elderly who are too often kept on the margins of families, civil and ecclesial communities.

By Francesca Merlo

His Holiness Pope Francis, on Tuesday, February 15, 2022, announced the theme for the Second World Day for Grandparents and Elderly with a tweet…

JERUSALEM - On February 2nd, 2022, for the World Day for Consecrated Life, His Beatitude Mgr Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, paid tribute to the men and women who chose to dedicate their lives to God through a beautiful Mass celebrated in the Co-Cathedral of the Patriarchate.

The World Day for Consecrated Life was established in 1997 by Pope Saint John Paul II. At that time, the Supreme Pontiff had just celebrated the Synod of Bishops on Consecrated Life and had published the Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata. He gave three main reasons for the institution of this day…

On Sunday, February 13th, 2022, the eve of the Feast of the Presentation of our Lord Jesus Christ to the Temple was celebrated at St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral in Antelias, presided over by His Holiness Catholicos of Cilicia Aram I. During the special service, Antasdan (Blessing of the Four Corners of the World), presenting the children to the altar for blessing, and the traditional bonfire took place.

A statement from the Holy See Press Office gives details of upcoming liturgical celebrations presided over by His Holiness Pope Francis.

By Vatican News staff writer

The Holy See Press Office on Monday released the schedule of upcoming liturgical celebrations that the Holy Father will preside over in the month of March.

His Holiness Pope Francis sends a letter to His Eminence Archbishop Rino Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation, as the Church begins preparations for the 2025 Jubilee year.

MILAN - On Saturday, February 12, 2022, in partnership with the Festival della Missione, Terra Santa and Caritas Ambrosiana, His Beatitude Mgr Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, participated in a conference on the theme of reconciliation, organized by the Archdiocese of Milan.