News from the Orient – November 8, 2024

This week’s News from the Orient:

Mobilization of Armenian Churches

A few days before the opening of COP29 in Baku, the Armenian Churches are mobilizing for the rights of Nagorno-Karabakh.

One year after the region's assault by the Azerbaijani army, Aram I, Raphaël Bedros XXI, and Paul Hay-dos-tian, the respective leaders of the Armenian Apostolic, Catholic, and Evangelical Churches, signed a joint declaration on November 2.

They voiced their protest and concern over “the forced evacuation of 120,000 people from their historic homeland, the planned destruction of Armenian religious and cultural buildings and monuments, and the illegal detention of Nagorno-Karabakh’s political leaders.”

The religious leaders are calling for the return of refugees and the restoration of Nagorno-Karabakh’s sovereignty under the protection of the international community.

All Saints’ Day in Gaza

On November 1, during the celebration of All Saints’ Day, Catholics worldwide honored all known and unknown saints.

Despite the ongoing war, the parish in Gaza organized a celebration where children were invited to dress up as their favorite saints.

New Bishop in Ethiopia

Bishop Tesfaye Tadesse Gebresilasie has been appointed by Pope Francis as the auxiliary bishop of the Ethiopian Catholic Archdiocese of Addis Ababa.

Since 2015, Bishop Gebresilasie served as the Superior General of the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus.

Born in 1969 in Harar, a predominantly Muslim city in eastern Ethiopia, he was ordained in 1995. He has also studied Islam in Cairo and Rome.

The new bishop will assist Cardinal Souraphiel in pastoral work within the Ethiopian metropolitan see.