LATEST NEWS ________________________________24/06/2008 Eritrea may be a rather insignificant country as far as the international community is concerned. However, if it would get a minimum of attention, like for instance Kenya and Zimbabwe, just to mention two of them. See full article at: http://comboni.org/index.php?Lingua=EN&ca=10130&CodNews=101759 LATEST NEWS ________________________________27/11/2008 Cardinal Tauran meets Prof. Alaam His Eminence Cardinal Jean-Louis Pierre Tauran, President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue visited Egypt during these days. On Wednesday 27th February he gave a conference at the Nile Hall in St. Joseph's Church on the role of the believers, Christians and Muslims, in today's society. His Eminence also spoke about the meeting he had with the Shaikh of Al-Azhar University, Abd al-Fattah Muhammad Alamm, President of the Committee for Dialogue of Al-Azhar. The kernel of their conversation was the link between the love of God and the love of the neighbour. Next year, the meeting will be hold in Rome. ??? ????? ???????? 2007 ???? ???? ? ?????? ??????? ??? ????? ??? ?????? ??????? 14 / 12 / 2007 ?? ?????? ??????? ???? ?????? ??????? ??? ????? ?? ????? ??? ???? (????? ????) 3? ???? ??? ?????? ???? – ??????? (???? ???? ???? ??? ????) ??????: ????? ???? ? ???? ?????: ? 46124763 ?? ???? ???????: ? 25758272 - ???? ???????: 25552575 ?????? ????????????? __________________________________26/11/2007 Foreign missionaries forced to abandon Eritrea The government of Eritrea has refused to renew the entry visa to 14 Catholic missionaries and has asked them to leave the country. On November 17th the expelled missionaries arrived in Italy and gave a well attended press conference in the Chapter Hall of the Comboni Missionaries (Rome). The major TVs and Italian newspapers were present. Some elements that emerged during the conference: 1. It appears that the government puts church personnel in the same category as the members of the NGOs and applies for them the same laws: it has for instance requested to hand over as soon as possible the leadership of all enterprises to local leaders and it has established a law of change of foreign personnel every two years. In this case, however, we witness the expulsion of church workers without any relative new work permit being given for an exchange. 2. Our work among the most abandoned – fruit of the missionary charism – (ethnic groups such as the Kunama of the street children of the suburbs) cannot easily be taken up by the very willing local church, due also to the difficulties created by different languages. 3. Life in the country has become very difficult for everyone, women included, who are also compelled to go for military service. 4. They were asked the reason for this expulsion: but no one could find it. It is clear, however, that the government wants to bring all activities under the control of the state. There are also clear measures that aim at isolating more and more this country. There are in fact areas where no foreigner is allowed to enter. And there is a clear intention of creating a national church under the control of the government and therefore toothless. __________________________________20/10/2007 Fair Trade in Egypt From 25th to 30th October a "Fair Trade Event" will take place at "El Sawy CultureWheel" in Zamalek. We highlight this moments of the programme: 25th October 19.00 "Fair Trade in the world", Mona El Sayed, ECC General Manager 19.30 "Fair Trade Egypt Foundation", Bassem Saroufim, FTE Chairman 20.00 "Arza'q – Fair Trade Stories", a film by Islam Lofty and Hassan Mahfouz 29th October Workshop: Fair Trade, a solution for small handicraft and agroproducers. 17.00 Introduction, Anne-Marie Poupart Iskandar, FTE 17.15 "Egyptian Traditional Craft under Globalization", Dott. Reem Saad, AUC 17.45 "Fair Trade in Africa", Joan Karanja, COFTA 18.30 "Fair Trade: a win win situation", Zohra Merabet, NSCE You can get more information writing to: apoupartiskandar@fairtradeegypt.org __________________________________19/10/2007 Vigil Prayer in preparation to the 81st World Mission Sunday A Vigil Prayer in preparation to the 81st World Mission Sunday took place on Friday the 5th at St. Anthony the Great Cathedral in Faggala (Cairo). Mons. Antonios Fayez, director of the Pontifical Missionary Works in Egypt, led the prayer and commented the message of the Pope for such occasion. About seventy people prayed together, sang along with an Egyptian and a Sudanese choir and listened to the experiences from other Churches. ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­_______________________________15/10/2007 Last Wednesday 10th October Comboni's day was celebrated. After 126 years of his death and 150 years of his arrival in Egypt for the first time, the celebration was hold at Cordi Jesu Church in Cairo. It began with a Vigil Prayer in which a Power Point presentation of his life and message was projected. It continued with the Eucharist in Coptic Rite presided over by His Holiness the Coptic Catholic Patriarch Antonios Naghib. Twenty priests accompanied him besides the Apostolic Nuncio, Mons. Michael Fitzgerald, the Coptic Catholic Bishop of Giza, Mons. Antonios Aziz, the rector of the National Diocesan Seminary, Fr. Shenuda, and the Provincial Superior of the Franciscans, Fr. Joseph Amin. The hymns were sung by three choirs, one from Helwan Parish, a Sudanese one and an Eritrean one which led the entrance procession. ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­_______________________________7/10/2007 “An embrace of peace and love” The Comboni Family in Egypt invites you to the Eucharistic Celebration in memory of Saint Daniel Comboni on the occasion of the 150th Anniversary of his first missionary trip to Egypt and Sudan. 10th October 2007 6.00 p.m. Vigil Prayer 6.30 p.m. Holy Mass At Cordi Jesu Church 3, Abd el-Khaliq Tharwat - Cairo The Holy Mass will be presided over by H. Beatitude Mons. Antonious Naguib, Patriarch of the Coptic Catholic Church. ________________________________1/09/2007 150th Anniversary of the arrival of St. Daniel Comboni in Egypt On 15th September it will be the 150th anniversary of the first arrival of St. Daniel Comboni in Egypt. He was a member of a missionary expedition on his way to Sudan. In remembrance of this event, we launch this website as an instrument for the mission promotion according to his charisma. ________________________________1/09/2007 Dar Comboni for Arabic Studies On July 16, 2007, the Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education appointed Fr. Richard Kyankaaga Ssendawula, Comboni Missionary, president of Dar Comboni for Arabic Studies in Cairo. At the same time, it has renewed the pontifical approval of the Institute for a further three years. Presently, forty students have enrolled in Dar Comboni for the forthcoming academic year. They are priests, sisters and lay people from Europe, Asia, Africa and America who prepare themselves to work with Christian minorities in Islamic contexts. The course will begin on 3rd September. ________________________________1/09/2007 Experiences of service and sharing Three Summer Camps for the youth were conducted in July and August 2007 by the Comboni Missionaries and Sisters. Twenty young university students and workers took part in the first camp which took place at Our Lady of Fatima Church in Heliopolis. In addition to prayer and discussions, the participants helped out in the Governmental Leprosarium of Abu Zaabel, where some Comboni Sisters work. Thirty five young people participated in the second camp which took place at the Comboni Community of Helwan. In addition to the spiritual exercises, the participants served at Sakakini among the Sudanese refugees, at two orphanages in Hewlan, and among the children who work in Moqattam collecting and sorting rubbish. The third camp took place in Tahta(Upper Egypt). It was a training course for Mission Promotors.