HAIFA, Holy Land – This year, the Haifa procession of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, which takes place every year from the Latin parish of St Joseph to the Stella Maris Monastery, was without any COVID-19-related restrictions, and saw many locals from all over the Holy Land attend the event.

Last year, due to the pandemic of COVID-19, the procession had been turned to a convoy of cars that drove all the way to the top of Mount Carmel.

His Holiness Pope Francis invites Catholics and Marian Shrines around the world to dedicate the month of May to a marathon of prayer for an end to the Covid-19 pandemic.

By Devin Watkins

Catholics across the globe are encouraged to dedicate the Marian month of May to praying for an end to the pandemic.

The initiative, behind which His Holiness Pope Francis has thrown his support, involves 30 Marian Shrines from various parts of the world.

On April 26, 2022, His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and Supreme Head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church, invited the cleaners (garbage collectors) of Old Damascus for an honorary banquet at the Patriarchate Headquarters in Bab Touma - Damascus.

Under the high auspices of Holiness Catholicos Aram I, Catholicos of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church, on Sunday evening, April 24th, 2022, the “Shonorhali” Choir of the Catholicosate of Cilicia, led by V. Rev. Fr. Zaven Nadjarian and accompanied by Cilicia Band, held a concert of national songs in commemoration of the 107th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, in Liqaa, Rabweh - Lebanon.

The Patriarchal Message of His Holiness Catholicos Aram I

“Our nation is in crisis. The self-determination of Artsakh is uncertain. Armenia's territorial integrity and even independence are threatened. Our demands are faced with serious challenges.”

“We see an urgent need for consultations and cooperation among the Armenian leaderships on issues, programs, and concerns that matter to the entire Armenian nation, and adopt decisions accordingly at the level of a National Council.”

His Holiness Catholicos Aram I

Our Language is One it is Antiochian, Christ is Risen… Indeed, He is Risen

On the occasion of Easter, the Antiochian Orthodox Media Center, affiliated the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, issued a video entitled “From Antioch to the World, Our Language is One it is Antiochian, Christ is Risen… Indeed, He is Risen”.

In the video, the St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology Choir Balamand performed the hymn of “Christ is Risen from the Dead” in many languages, Russian, Romanian, Portuguese, German, Swedish, Assyrian, Turkish, Greek, French, English and Arabic. Noting that the filming location was is in Our Lady of Balamand Patriarchal Monastery in Lebanon.

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, issued his Papal Message on the occasion of Easter 2022. You may click here to watch the message.

Ninth Anniversary of the Abduction of the Metropolitans of Aleppo

Dear brethren and spiritual children,

“Christ is risen; He is risen indeed”.

We declare it as of today, and we intend it as a paschal letter. We declare it today on Great Friday, which coincides this year with the ninth anniversary of the abduction of the Archbishops of Aleppo Youhanna Ibrahim and Paul Yazigi. We declare it today, while Christ is in the depth of Golgotha of glory, hanging on the lofty cross, to excavate for us and for the tormented East, the path of Resurrection. We declare it today and the present moments reiterate, to confirm that Christians in this East were and are steadfast in Crucifixion, following the model of our Lord. Once again, we declare it today, to always substantiate that the cross of suffering is the initiator of the path of Resurrection.

On April 24, 2022, 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 on the occasion of Easter Sunday, at St. Georges Patriarchal Cathedral in Bab Touma, Damascus.

His Beatitude Patriarch John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, presided over the Good Friday Prayer, the burial of Jesus Christ, on Friday, April 22, 2022, at the Holy Cross Church in Damascus.

On Good Friday afternoon, around 3.00 pm on 9/22 April 2022, the Service of Vespers took place at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in commemoration of the deposition from the Wood of the Immaculate Body of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ and His burial at the place nearby.

The Service was led by His Beatitude Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III.

On April 22, 2022, 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 services of the worship and burial of the Cross at St. George Patriarchal Cathedral in Bab Touma in Damascus.

His Holiness was assisted by their Eminences Archbishops: Mor Cyril Babi, Patriarchal Vicar in the Patriarchal Archdiocese of Damascus, and Mor Joseph Bali, Patriarchal Secretary and Media Office Director. St. Aphrem Patriarchal Choir in Damascus chanted the special hymns for the occasion.

On Holy Thursday evening, 8/21 April 2022, the Service of the Passions took place at the Catholicon of the Church of the Resurrection, which includes the Matins of Holy and Great Friday.

In it, the Holy Church commemorates the Horrendous Passions of the Lord, the beatings, the spitting, the nails, the spear and especially the Cross and the death, along with the repentance and confession of the grateful thief.

On Sunday, 4/17 April 2022, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem celebrated the Palm Sunday, namely the triumphant entrance of the Lord in Jerusalem after Lazarus’ resurrection. The Lord was sitting on a young ass and being welcomed by the children of the Jews who held palm tree branches and cried out loud, “Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord”.

This Despotic feast was celebrated at the Catholicon of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as a “Great Parresia” after the reading of the 9th Hour at the Church of Saint Constantine…

On April 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, celebrated the Holy Qurobo on the occasion of Palms Sunday, at St. Georges Patriarchal Cathedral in Bab Touma, Damascus.

During the Holy Qurobo, His Holiness was assisted by their Eminences Archbishops: Mor Cyril Babi, Patriarchal Vicar for the Patriarchal Archdiocese of Damascus, and Mor Joseph Bali, Patriarchal Secretary and Media Office Director.

On the Monday in the Octave of Easter, His Holiness Pope Francis encourages us to take to heart the Risen Lord's reassuring words, "Do not be afraid", and to share the joy of Easter as witnesses to the truth sets us free.

By Thaddeus Jones

His Holiness Pope Francis spoke to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square on a brilliant Spring morning the day after Easter ahead of the recitation of the Regina Coeli.

Dearest brothers and sisters,

Christ is risen! Alleluia!

Every day of Holy Week, we have gathered here around the empty Tomb of Christ. Today we are here again to celebrate at last His triumph over death, and to proclaim once more to the entire world that death and its bindings no longer have any power.

Now we wish to ask ourselves what we have understood and retained from the many significant gestures that have accompanied us during these past days.

In his Easter "To the Church and to the World" message, His Holiness Pope Francis announces that Jesus, the Crucified One, is risen, and he remembers victims of war, all those suffering around the world, and appeals ardently that the peace of Christ may enter our lives, our homes, and our countries.

By Thaddeus Jones

His Holiness Pope Francis presided over the Easter celebrations in sun and flower-filled St. Peter's Square, crowded with pilgrims in a way not seen since before the pandemic.

JERUSALEM - Commemorating what gives meaning to the Christian faith, that is, that life will always triumph over death, Easter Sunday 2022 served as a conclusion to a Holy Week that saw the return of pilgrims: it reminded us, after two years of COVID-19, what a celebration in the land of Christ is really like.

Echoing the Jewish festival of Pesach, which celebrates the Jewish people's liberation from slavery in Egypt, and which this year began on April 15th (and ends seven days later), Easter is the most important feast of the Christian religion.

His Holiness Pope Francis celebrates Mass with 100,000 faithful, united in the joy of Easter and in the message of peace brought by the risen Jesus.

By Vatican News staff reporter

On Sunday, April 17, 2022, the celebration of Easter Mass in a crowded, sunlit St Peter's Square began with the rite of "Resurrexit" on the parvis of the square decorated with 40,000 flowers brought from Holland.