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Jan. 6th: On Coptic Christmas Eve in Nag Hammadi in Upper Egypt, a Moslem shot at some Copts as they were leaving the church after the Christmas Liturgy, killing six and wounding nine. He had accomplices.
Jan. 16th: at 3.00 p.m., demonstration in front of the Ministry of External Affairs (metro Invalides) in Paris in support of the Copts, following the events of Nag Hammadi.
Jan. 16th: at 4.00.p.m., general meeting of of the Association AEMO Opération 500 for aid to Iraqi Christian refugees in France, to whom I have committed to give free help in sorting their papers of request for refugee status in France (at OFPRA).
Jan. 17th: the Feast of the Epiphany (Timkat), celebrated by Father Zedingel and his Ethiopian Orthodox community at the Institut St-Serge, to be broadcast on French TV on Jan. 31st (FR 2, broadcast on Oriental Christians) on the Ethiopian Church. I was interviewed for this broadcast at the Musée Paul Delouvrier (www.museepauldelouvrier.com), situated in the Catholic Cathedral of Évry (RER D, station: Évry Courcouronne), where Christian Ethiopian artefacts are to be found, among others.
Jan. 19th: at 5.30 p.m. at the Senate in Paris, a discussion ‘Mediterranean Cultures and Identities’ or ‘How the cultures and identities around the Mediterranean can make a positive contribution to the project of Union for the Mediterranean’, was organised by the Association « Fondation France- Égypte ».
Jan. 21st: at 6.00 p.m. in the Catholic Institute of Paris, Alain Desreumaux spoke of the Syrian Orthodox Churches in Tour Abdin (Turkey).
Jan 21st-31st: I visited Tunisia.
Saturday 30th: The French Association ‘On My Mind’ (EOMM), an ONG for the development of, and aid to, Ethiopia, invited me to speak in Tunis about the Ethiopian Church. I also gave a talk on Oriental Christians to students in the University of Manoubia in Tunis. The journalist Hanene Zbiss interviewed me for the Réalités Review (No. 1261, 25 Feb. 2010). In Carthage, there are ancient basilicas to be visited and admired. I interviewed the Greek bishop and the Russian priest in Tunis (in preparation for an article). There are three Greek churches in Tunisia (in Tunis, Sfax and Bizerte). and two Russian ones (in Tunis and Bizerte).
Jan. 29th-30th: European Exhibition of the Book of History at the Sorbonne during the seventh of the Days on the History of Europe.
Feb. 2nd: I spoke on the Orthodox Church at the Institut Saint-Serge to women of the Franco-Japanese Association, Souzoukake-No-kai.
Feb. 5th: at 8.30 p.m., at 5 rue de l’Abbaye, Christian Cannuyer spoke about The Copts Yesterday and Today, during an exhibition on the Copts in the Church of Saint-Germain des Prés from Jan, 23rd to Feb. 14th (organised by Oeuvre d’Orient).
Feb. 4th-14th, I visited Lebanon:
Feb. 5th: Presentation of my two books on the history of the Orthodox Church in Western and Eastern Europe at the Mouvement de jeunesse orthodoxe (MJO - Orthodox Youth Movement) in Beirut. I had interviews with hierarchs and lay people, both Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, on the situation of Christians in the Middle East, and met with Syrian Orthodox refugees from Iraq.
10th-12th: Conference at the Orthodox University of Balamand at the invitation of the International Foundation for the Unity of Orthodox Christian Nations (IFUOCN) on the theme “Traditional spiritual and cultural values as the basis of stable development”, at the invitation of its founder and president Professor V. Alekseev. I presented my two books on the history of the Orthodox Church in Western and Eastern Europe.
Feb. 17th: I was present at the Universal Periodical Exam (UPR) on Egypt and Iraq during the presentation of the general report on human rights at the United Nations in Geneva, with replies on Feb. 19th and June 11th. It is possible to follow the process on the Internet at http://www.upr-info.org/-Webcast-.html
Feb. 21st: Jean-François Mayer, an Orthodox from Fribourg, had prepared, in the context of a series of chronicles on Radio Swiss Romande 1 (2-3 minute broadcasts) a presentation of my book on the Orthodox Church in Eastern Europe (http://www.rsr.ch/la-1ere/high-frequency).
March 13th: Archbishop Yosef of the Ethiopian Church in Western Europe was received at the St-Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute by Archbishop Gabriel of the rue Daru. Every Sunday, one of the two Ethiopian parishes in Paris uses the rooms underneath St Sergius’ Church for the celebration of the Divine Liturgy or for prayers.
From March 16th-18th, Patriarch Kiril of Moscow was in Armenia. There he met Catholicos Karekin, Primate of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The Russian Church is to open a centre in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. On March 18th, the Russian Patriarch laid the first stone of the Cathedral of the Elevation of the Holy Cross in Yerevan, beside which the future Moscow Patriarchate’s Centre will stand.
March 17th: I gave a talk on the Copts: « The Heritage of the Coptic World; its history, culture, spirituality and contemporary problems », in the Musée de Tessé at Le Mans, following the exhibition on Coptic Collections from the Louvre: History, Culture and Spirituality. I was interviewed about the Copts by Father Hervé-Marie Cotten on Radio RCF le Mans, broadcast on April 22nd at 11.30 a.m.
March 20th: at 23 rue des Lilas, Paris 19, from mid-day to 7.0 p.m., an Open Day organised by the Cultural Association of the Ethiopian parish of Juvisy, including an Ethiopian meal, a coffee ceremony and an account of the history of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
March 26th and 27th: an International Conference on Human Rights organised by a German Association, the International Association for Human Rights (Internationale Gesellschaft für Menschenrechte, IGFM), took place in Bonn in Germany, at the Gustav Stresemann Institute (www.igmf.de), including the presence of well-known representatives of Coptic ONG, to defend the rights of Copts.
April 13th: in the Espace Bernanos in Paris at 6.30 p.m: « A Page of History: the Armenian and Assyro-Chaldean Genocide » was explained by Joseph Alichoran (Researcher in the History of Mesopotamian Christianity, a journalist, senior lecturer of Soureth at INALCO), and by Vahe Katcherian (representative of the Armeninan Catholic Church in the Council of Armenian Churches in France).
April 14th: at 5.00 p.m., Laure Guirguis spoke on « Coptic Transnational Mobilisation: visibility or recognition » during a Seminar by Bernard Heyberger on The History of Oriental Christians (16th to 20th Century) in the École pratique des Hautes-Études (Practical School of Higher Studies - EHESS) of the Sorbonne, in the section for Religious Sciences.
April 14th: at 8.00 p.m. in the Parish Rooms of the Catholic Church of St Léon, 11 place du cardinal Amette, Paris 15, I gave a talk on the Copts in Egypt.
April 24th: at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, a Day of Syriac Studies (Christianity in Iraq VII) was organised on the Liturgy, with, among others, Professor Sebastian Brock (Oxford) and Baby Verghese (India); in the afternoon, assessments of the situation of Christians in Iraq. I spoke of aid to Christian refugees in France via the AEMO, based in Paris.
April 25th at 8.00 a.m. on France Culture, the programme on Orthodoxy, I presented the book I had published with Cerf (2009) on l’Église orthodoxe en Europe orientale au 20e siècle (The Orthodox Church in Eastern Europe in the XXth Century).
May 5th: the Association Mahibere Qiddusan in Addis Ababa organised a conference of various Church Schools in Ethiopia (mainly Gondar, Gojam, Wollo and Tigray) in the hall of the Church of the Holy Trinity, to discuss their heritage, art and literature, with the participation of more than 55 traditional teachers (poetry or Qene, music or zema and books or mes’hafe) and also the participation of professors of the University of Addis Ababa; they spoke particularly about the protection of this heritage and about Ethiopian art (see the Internet version of the newspaper Reporter of 2.5.2010).
May 8th: The Council of Oriental Orthodox Churches in Great Britain organised a meeting at the Coptic Centre in Stevenage near London (Shephalbury Manor, Broadhall Way, Stevenage SG2 8RH).
May 12th: Two films in Paris which touch on the countries that interest us:
Teza (2008) by Haile Garima, which narrates the history of Ethiopia from 1977 to 1981, a period of violence and assassinations, also with views of traditional life in Ethiopia, and
Femmes au Caire (Women in Cairo, 2009) by Yousry Nasrallah, which speaks of the difficulties experienced by women in Egyptian society.
An Iranian film, Les chats persans (The Persian Cats, 2009) by Bahman Ghobadi, denounces the impossibility of young musicians being free creators of modern music in Iran.
May 20th: at 5.30 p.m., the Association Fondation France-Égyptepresented a debate at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, Dialogue or Civilisational Shock, concerning the statutes and problems of minorities around the Mediterranean, with the participation, among others, of the Director General of the Institut du Monde Arabe, Mr Mokhtr Taleb Bendiab, of Mr Tanios and of Father Henri Boulad.
May 30th: Feast of the Mother of God in the Ethiopian Church in Juvisy (Notre Dame de la Voie, 102 avenue Jean Jaurès, 91200 Athis-Mons (RER C or D, to Juvisy, Bus 399 to the Mozart stop), in the presence of Bishop Yosef of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in Europe.
I went to Brussels:
June 1st at 8.00 p.m., I gave a talk at the Forum Renaissance/Foyer Catholique Européen, 40 Avenue de la Renaisance in Brussels, on « The Place of the Orthodox Church in New Europe » (http://www.dominicains.be/Domini/index.php?)
June 2nd at 6.30 p.m., in the UOPC Bookshop, I presented my book: The Orthodox Church in Eastern Europe in the 20th Century, which I published in 2009 (Paris, Cerf). I made use of being in Brussels to bring the book to the notice of journalists and representatives of the EU.
June 3rd: I was invited on RTBF on J. P. Heyq’s progamme and also that of the Orthodox Church in Belgium to present The Orthodox Church in Eastern Europe in the 20th Century (L'Église orthodoxe en Europe orientale au XXe siècle).
June 7th: Professor Memher Gebre Sellasie died in Addis Ababa and was buried in Motta. When I interviewed him for my book in 2002, he was 89. He taught up till 2007. The Patriarch asked that his biography be written by his students. This is all very important, as every traditional professor of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is a living library, which disappears with each of them as their teaching is oral. Their teaching touches me deeply and must be preserved for the tradition of the Ethiopian Church (see the chapter in my book: The Ethiopian Orthodox Church (2002) on this subject).
June 8th – 26th: Alliances and Resonance; Views of Ethiopia (Alliances en résonance, Regards sur l’Éthiopie), organised by the Alliance française in Paris and Addis Ababa, with conferences and a concert (www.allianceaddis.org) at which, on June 11th, there was a paper by Éloi Ficquet in the Château de Vincennes explaining the sponsorship of the towns of Vincennes and Gondar, where the restoration of the Castle of Mikael Sehoul is under way.
June 12th: an Open Day at the Institut Saint-Serge, 93 rue de Crimée in Paris, with the participation of Ethiopian and Coptic friends.
June 15th: at 7.30 p.m., an inter-religious meeting of local people in the Omar Mosque, place Jean-Pierre Tibaud, Paris 11; I was asked to take part as an Orthodox.
June 17th: at 8.45 p.m., a concert by Orthodox choirs at the Saint-Roch Church in Paris.
June 27th: At a talk given at the Institut Saint-Serge in Paris, during the questions (unfortunately not recorded), Metropolitan Kallistos Ware declared that he did not understand why the Orthodox Churches were separate from the Oriental Orthodox Churches, as there was nothing dividing us and we should be together in the act of Communion.
(http://www.orthodoxie.com/2010/10/leglise-en-europe-occidentale-au-xxi%C3%A8-si%C3%A8cle-une-conf%Ca
a short video:
http://www.orthodoxie.com/2010/06/-l%C3%A9glise-du-21%C3%A8me-si%C3%A8cle-promesses-et-d%C3%A9fi-extrait-de-la-conf%C3%A9rence-de-mgr-kallistos-ware.html).
Metropolitan Kallistos repeated the same thing in an interview televised on France 2 (Orthodoxie programme) on Sept. 12th 2010 (http://www.orthodoxie.com/2010/09/t%C3%A9l%C3%A9vision-france-2-entretien-avec-mgr-kallistos-ware.html). But the broadcast is no longer available, having been kept only for a week.
See the texts of the official theological dialogue on the website of our Association (www.orthodial.com).
July 1st: During the Study Day at Saint-Denis (Université Paris 8), in a lecture entitled « The States of the Horn of Africa: reinforcement and/or decline? », Stephane Ancel spoke of the lasting Church-State relations in Ethiopia in the 20th century.
July 3rd: During a visit to Paris, Patriarch Abouna Paulos 1 of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church celebrated the Liturgy in the hall underneath the church of the Institut St-Sergius, in the presence of the local bishop, Archbishop Gabriel, and Father Nicolas Cernokrak, Dean of the Institute. The Patriarch had studied Orthodox theology at St Vladimir’s in New York; he commemorated the professors he had known, and expressed his joy at at last visiting the Institut St-Sergius. A common meal followed in the garden.
July 18th: In the Orthodox parish of the Protection of the Mother of God in Barcelona, 181 Carre Arago (Serbian Patriarchate), I spoke of the situation of Christians in the East.
July 19th-24th: The World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (WOCMES) was held in the University in Barcelona; very little was said about Oriental Christians.
Sept. 28th-30th: In Ukraine. A conference in Kiev, in the Great Lavra, in the course of which the Russian version of my book The Orthodox Church in Eastern Europe in the 20th Century, which had just come out, was presented.
Sept. 28th: I spoke about the history and present situation of Oriental Christians to theological students at the Catholic University of L’viv, and on Oct. 1st: at the Academy of Orthodox Theology in the Great Lavra in Kiev.
Oct. 10th: The Annual Conference of Orbis Aethiopicus at Stolberg/Harz in Germany on the theme of ancient Ethiopia.
Oct. 21st-22nd: Study Day on the Ethiopian Churches at the Superior Institute of Ecumenical Studies of the Catholic Institute in Paris, organised by Professors Jacques-Noël Pérès and Ursula Schattner-Rieser under the honorary presidency of S.A.I. Dr Asfa Wossen Asserate, Prince of Ethiopia and founder of Orbis Aethiopica.
(http://www.icp.fr/fr/Organismes/THEOLOGICUM-Faculte-de-Theologie-Sciences-Religieuses/Institut-Superieur-d-Etudes-AEcumeniques-ISEO/Agenda).
Oct. 31st: Islamists attacked the Syrian Catholic Cathedral in Baghdad and killed 58 people, of whom two were priests, and wounded more than 60; it was the most murderous attack on Christians in Iraq since 2003.
Following the attack of Oct. 31st in Baghdad, an anonymous group of Christians (Speroforum) launched a petition on the Internet for signatures supporting the canonisation of the martrys of Baghdad (see the text on http://www.martyrs-iraq.org). Visitors to the Martyrs-Iraq.org website can add their names to the petition. The website also lists the names of the Iraqi Christians murdered in Baghdad on 31 October.
Nov. 2nd: at 7.00 p.m. at the Sèvres Centre, 35 rue de Sèvres, a talk: « What future is there for Oriental Christians? », with Father Samil Khalil and Annie Laurent, who both took part in the Synod of the Catholic Church in the Middle East in Rome in October 2010, and shared their experiences (see dossiers www.cherchonslapaix.fr).
Nov. 4th: In a press release signed, among others, by the Syrian Orthodox Church Sainte-Marie de Montfermeil and the Collective Association VAN (Armenian Vigilance on Negationism), the Association ‘Visage et Culture des Coptes’ (The Face and Culture of the Copts) put this question: Will Iraq allow Christians to be a legitimate target? The signatory churches and associations firmly condemned the bloodthirsty killings on Oct. 31st 2010 in the Syrian Catholic church in Baghdad.
For more information on the Christians of Iraq, see the websites: Sobi Toma on France 3, in the programme "Revue et Corrigé" (http://www.gloria.tv/?media=108489).
Cf http://eecho.fr/?p=2295
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_IRAQ_CHRISTIANS?SITE=NCAGW&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
http://gorillasguides.com/2010/11/07/archbishop-urges-iraqi-christians-to-leave-country/.
See also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzFBbZsYVE4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z38-3ZWJOFU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyxpCcsKNO0&feature=related
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/11/10/iraq.christian.attacks/index.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/10/bombings-target-christians-in-baghdad
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/10/baghdad-christian-attacks-archbishop-exodus
http://www.icin.org.uk/index.html
http://www.orthodoxie.com/2010/11/france-le-groupe-ump-%C3%A0-lassembl%C3%A9e-nationale-met-en-place-un-groupe-de-r%C3%A9flexion-et-daction-sur-la-si.html
http://www.leparisien.fr/international/bagdad-des-chretiens-a-nouveau-victimes-d-attentats-10-11-2010-1144084.php
In November, the French government welcomed Christian refugees who were victims of the attack on 31st Oct. in the Syrian Catholic church in Baghdad.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1328406/Iraqi-Islamists-launch-wave-attacks-Christians-Baghdad.html
http://www.france24.com/en/20101110-more-iraqi-christians-attacked-baghdad-iraq-religion-violence
http://www.lexpress.fr/actualites/1/irak-nouveaux-attentats-meurtriers-contre-les-chretiens-a-bagdad_935544.html?actu=1
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/More-attacks-on-Christians-in-Baghdad-a-week-after-massacre-19928.html.
Nov. 2nd: Gérard Larcher, the President of the Senate, declared that ‘This threat to Oriental Christians can only lead to an immense human and spiritual impoverishment.’ Dalil Boubakeur, Rector of the Great Mosque in Paris, also rang an alarm-bell on Nov. 1st: ‘Moslems today, whoever they are, cannot tolerate that such terrorist, bloodthirsty aggression be used against Christians living in Islamic lands. The object of this fanaticism is solely to create misunderstanding and hostility between Christians and Moslems.’
Nov. 3rd: The President of the UMP group in the National Assembly, Jean-François Copé, announced the setting up of a group for reflection and action on the situation of Christian communitites in the Near East. The Prime Minister, François Fillon, present at the meeting of the UMP, also expressed his disquiet at the lot of Oriental Christians, emphasizing that this was a matter that was little spoken of. (Source: website of the UMP group in the National Assembly).
At the Vatican’s request, Rome had also allowed wounded Iraqis in Italy.
http://www.9and10news.com/Category/Story/?id=269012&cID=4
This website gives day-to-day news of Iraq:
http://www.topix.net/world/iraq
According to some people, hope of any protection for Christians in Iraq is somewhat illusory.
http://www.mediaite.com/online/daily-beast-is-hillary-clinton-staying-silent-on-genocide-in-iraq/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+mediaite%2FClHj+%28Mediaite%29
Nov. 9th: Le Monde has published a column by Nadia and Mohammed Abdi, two counsellors of Fadela Amara, the Secretary of State charged with the politics of the town, entitled « For our brother Christians in the East ». At the beginning, they say: ‘No more than a day passes without the Christians of the East, in a permanent struggle for survival, paying in their flesh the price of intolerance and fanaticism. There is no longer a day that does not dig the furrow towards a declared death a little deeper. An extinction to which we remain dramatically deaf and blind. This extermination that is unrolling before our eyes is extremely grave on the level of the human conscience, but equally for the future of the East itself. Today, who is still concerned about this Arab minority?
Nov. 10th: New attacks on about six Christian homes in Baghdad.
Nov. 10th: The Security Council strongly condemned the recent series of terrorist attacks in Iraq, including the bomb explosions that took place today in the capital, Baghdad, which cost the lives of many people and wounded hundreds of others. The Council particularly deplored their being aimed at gatherings of civilians, such as the places of worship of Christians and Moslems, and expressed its sincere condolences to the families of the victims.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?Cr1=&NewsID=36723&Cr=iraq
Nov. 12th: A demonstration by thousands of Syrian Christians from various European countries gathered in front of the European Union in Brussels.
Nov. 13th: A demonstration in support of the Oriental Christians of Iraq took place on the Parvis des Droits de l’Homme (of Human Rights), in the Place du Trocadéro in Paris, with the participation of various churches and associations.
To see a video of the demonstration:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xfn46c_chretiens-d-irak-non-non-non-a-l-extermination_news)
http://www.orthodoxie.com/2010/11/la-d%C3%A9fense-des-chr%C3%A9tiens-dorient.html
Since 2004, attacks on civilians, the clergy, places of worship and Christian politicians have gone on increasing. Of the 800,000 Christians who lived in these countries, 300,000 have already fled the country (Iraq’s total population being 31 million, according to the 2008 census).
Is the field to be left open to extremists, partisans of violence and hatred? Will the Christians of the area be considered legitimate targets?
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/11/17/ap/world/main7063284.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CBSNewsGamecore+(GameCore%3A+CBSnews.com).
Nov. 16th: Sweden suspended the expulsion of forty Iraqi asylum-seekers. The refugees to whom a European country had refused asylum can appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.
Nov. 16th and 17th: The Service orthodoxe de Presse (SOP) of December 2010 announced a conference in Brussels on respect for religious liberties and the rights of confessional minorities in Turkey, with, among others, Greek Orthodox, Armenian and Syrian Christians taking part.
The SOP also announced the holding of a preparatory committee, from 2nd-5th November on Cyprus, for dialogue and co-operation among Orthodox Christians, Oriental Orthodox and the Protestant Bible societies. The document denounced acts of proselytism practised by certain Protestant missionaries, especially Evangelicals, who had come from abroad among people of Orthodox tradition (p. 13).
Nov. 18th: at 7.00 p.m., Annual Meeting of our Association at the Institut Saint-Sergius. This year’s theme: « Two Coptic and Syrian spiritual figures: Saint Anthony and Saint Ephrem », presented by two priests of these Churches with the reading of chosen texts. Father Boris Bobrinskoy, the President of our Association, who is retired and living in Bourgogne, sent me an e-mail: ‘Dear Christine, I am very sorry not to be able to come to Paris for the meeting of our Association, especially at this time when the Christians of the Near East are enduring such heavy trials. I beg to pass on my warmest fraternal greetings in Jesus Christ to those present at the meeting. May God bless this Assembly and calm tormented and sorely tested hearts. Father Boris Bobrinskoy.’
Nov. 19th: At the Protestant Theological Institute, 83, boulevard Arago, Paris 14, the Round Table of the Society of Syrian Studies met this year’s theme being « Les mystiques syriaques » (Syrian Mystics).
Nov. 30th: Pope Shenouda III ordained three priests for Paris, in Cairo Cathedral.
Dec. 3rd: University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland), a seminar on Orthodox in the West.
Dec. 11th: 8.30 p.m. in the Church of Saint-Roch, 296, rue St Honoré, Paris 1, Concert in homage to the Christians of Iraq and all the victims of the Iraqi conflict.
Dec. 16th: On his internet site, the Coptic Orthodox Bishop Sourial of Melbourne spoke in New York on video about the injustices undergone by the Copts in Egypt, of the ignoring of their human rights and their intolerable suffering.
(http://bishopsuriel.blogspot.com/2010/12/words-and-prayers-from-ecumenical-day.html?spref=fb).
Dec. 20th: at 8.30 p.m. in the Church of Notre Dame of the Lebanon, 15 rue d’Ulm, Paris 5, a concert organised by the Franco-Lebanese Committee ‘Merci la France’, presided over by Antoine Safar, for aid to the Christian victims of Iraq and those close to them who are in pain and exile.
Dec. 24th: Interview with the Coptic politician Mona Makram Ebeid in Figaro.fr
The Iraqi Churches cancelled Christmas festivities throughout the country, as the terrorists of Al-Qaeda had threatened other attacks against this besieged community, that was already terrified by a murderous taking of hostages perpetrated two months earlier in a Baghdad church (Associated Press, Wednesday Dec. 22nd).
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/9419327:
Dec. 25th: In the television broadcast Chrétiens d’Orient (France 2), the Chaldean priest of the parish of Sarcelles, himself of Iraqi origin, said that Herods were being multiplied in the Middle East, as were massacres of the innocents. ‘We hope for a better world and a lasting peace there’ he also said.
As a Christmas greeting from our Association for Dialogue Between Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox, an icon of the Nativity in the Ethiopian style and painted by Stéphane René, a member of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Great Britain, was sent to the members of our Association.
Dec. 26th: See the article by Vincent Hugeux: « Iraq, the Way of the Cross for Christians » (Irak, le chemin de croix des chrétiens) in the Express.
See the videos on the Christians of Iraq on Dailymotion http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/chr%C3%A9tiens+d%27Irak
For those who read German, look at the website www.kafro.com. It concerns Syrian Orthodox émigrés from German Switzerland, who decided to return to live on their ancestral lands in a village to the south of Midyar in south-west Turkey. Such courage! Pray for them.
PUBLICATIONS
C. Chaillot: Les chrétiens syriens orthodoxes au Moyen-Orient et en Inde (Syrian Orthodox Christians in the Middle East and India), Études interculturelles, The Catholic University of Lyon 3/2010, (International Conference, April 2009), pp. 212-237.
My book on the Orthodox Church in Eastern Europe is noted in the Letter of the Centre for Slavonic Studies.
A reminder: our Association, which I founded in 2001, has the following senior officers : President, Father Boris Bobrinskoy; Vice-President, Father Moussa al-Anba Bishoy ; Vice-Treasurer Father Yacoub Aydin and Treasurer, Christine Chaillot