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What the Catholic Church in Egypt is doing to keep youths attached to their faith #Catholic CAIRO — The Catholic Church in Egypt faces the challenge of keeping its young population attached to the faith, a bishop in the country said, noting that many youths abandon the Catholic faith at marriage.Speaking to Aid to the Church in Need, Bishop Emmanuel Bishay of Egypt’s Coptic Catholic Eparchy of Luxor clarified that relations between the Catholic and Orthodox churches are good.However, he pointed out the challenge of keeping youths in the Church, noting that to deepen the Catholic faith, the Church runs formation programs alongside initiatives that make it easier for young Catholics to meet and forge relationships.“At the official level, relations between the Catholic and Orthodox churches are good. There is affection, and people exchange greetings on religious occasions,” Bishay said in an Oct. 19 ACN report.“Unfortunately, if a young Catholic man or woman marries an Orthodox person, they may be required to become Orthodox and to follow the Orthodox Church’s requirements,” he said. “This is a major challenge for us as a Church: How can we help our young people deepen their Catholic faith and remain attached to their Church?”“I believe that the formation we provide, especially through catechesis, is an important service. We also create many opportunities for young Catholics to meet one another,” he said.In Egypt, Catholics are described as “a minority within a minority” in the ACN report. The charity organization says that the largest Christian denomination in Egypt is the historic Coptic Orthodox Church.“Though there are no official numbers, estimates point to between 10 and 15 million Copts in the country, making it the biggest Christian community in the Middle East, by a large margin. Muslims make up the vast majority of the rest of Egypt’s 120 million people,” the ACN report said.The Catholic Coptic Church, on the other hand, has only around 300,000 faithful living in Egypt, but according to Bishay, they are playing an important part in forging good relations between different religious communities and also for their contributions to health, education, and culture.“As one travels farther into Upper Egypt, people can be somewhat more rigid in their attitudes. We make every effort to build relationships with the Orthodox community and with Muslims, who are the majority, even if we encounter some difficulties, especially in villages and small settlements,” Bishay was quoted as explaining.Regarding relations with the Muslim community, the Catholic bishop admitted that there have been difficult periods but said the situation has improved.“The hard-line voices that used to be heard are no longer as prominent, while another voice, the moderate one, is growing. The change is slow but noticeable: People are listening to those with moderate views, and the government is giving them room to act. The process is moving in this direction. I believe that if Egypt continues along this path, things will keep getting better,” the Church leader said.Bishay further said that the Catholic Church plays an outsized role in the services it provides in Egypt, especially in the poorer regions, but its faithful continue to face difficult challenges as a minority within a large country.“The Catholic Church is small in numbers but strong in services. Some of the best schools in Egypt are Catholic schools, and the fact that state officials regularly turn to Catholic schools is evidence of this. We also work in healthcare. Our diocese alone has 14 clinics, most of which are staffed by religious sisters who devote much of their time to this work. Another contribution is through cultural centers and libraries,” Bishay explained.He added: “The Catholic Church has not only provided these services; it has also shown Egyptian society how to provide them. The Coptic Orthodox Church learned to provide them from us and, more recently, mosques have also begun providing services of this kind, following our example. The Catholic Church has been a pioneer in this field.”The bishop went on to say that the services are particularly important in the Eparchy of Luxor.“Upper Egypt receives less attention than the Delta and the north of the country, which means that services are less adequate, particularly in healthcare. Hospitals do not always meet the required standard, and there are also shortcomings in education and childcare. This requires a great deal of effort from us as the Catholic Church.”He added: “The figures indicate that we are among the poorest governorates in Egypt. This affects people’s abilities and talents, whether intellectual or otherwise. It saddens me to see talented people whose abilities are not given their due, or whose surroundings do not give them the opportunity to develop and fulfill their potential,” the bishop said.He expressed gratitude to ACN, which he said continues to support the Catholic Church in Egypt in many different fields. “ACN is a very important support for us. What is especially valuable is that the foundation looks at our priorities, rather than imposing its own agenda. That is very important!”This story was first published by ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, and has been adapted by EWTN News.

unitedyam October 25, 2026October 26, 2026

Speaking to Aid to the Church in Need, Bishop Emmanuel Bishay of Egypt’s Coptic Catholic Eparchy of Luxor said that relations between the Catholic and Orthodox churches are good.

‘Nearly every Catholic health care institution’ in Illinois shielded from suicide law in court order #Catholic Catholic health institutions in Illinois will enjoy broad protection against the state’s assisted suicide law after a federal court expanded a block against the law to protect religious objectors from being forced to participate in it. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois earlier this year ruled in favor of multiple Catholic plaintiffs, including Springfield Bishop Thomas Paprocki and Chicago archbishop Cardinal Blase Cupich, barring the state from requiring them to participate in the suicide regime there. Multiple groups of religious sisters have also been included in those protective orders. The Thomas More Society, a legal group representing Paprocki and several others in their lawsuit, announced on Oct. 8 that “nearly every Catholic health care institution in Illinois” had been included in an expanded court order blocking the suicide law from being enforced. Among the protected entities are the Catholic Medical Association, the Catholic Psychotherapy Association, and numerous Catholic healthcare affiliates in the Diocese of Springfield. The order is temporary and will last only so long as the lawsuit against the state suicide law plays out, but Thomas More Society litigation head Peter Breen said in a news release that the law firm would “keep fighting until that protection is permanent.” “Catholic and Christian health care providers, from hospitals and nursing homes to physicians, nurses, and therapists, strive to heal, not harm, and for generations, have cared for the sick and dying in keeping with their faith,” Breen said, arguing that the state has “no right or authority” to coerce them into helping patients kill themselves. Narrow opt-out laws mean the Catholic care providers were not obligated to actively facilitate the specific act of suicide. But the state law still requires them to participate in the suicide regime in various other ways, including touting the alleged benefits of taking one’s own life.Elsewhere in the U.S., Rockville Centre, New York, Bishop John Barres and a coalition of four communities of religious sisters won a victory in July when a U.S. district judge said the state would be barred from enforcing its new suicide law against the Catholic plaintiffs while their own federal suit played out.

Denver bishops mark America 250 with message on migrants and refugees #Catholic Catholic bishops and other Christian leaders in Colorado issued a letter on immigrants and refugees in observance of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini’s feast day during the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence. “This anniversary invites us to remember not only the founding of our nation but also the generations who have helped bring its ideals to life,” the letter, released on Oct. 5, Cabrini’s feast day, said, highlighting that “America’s immigrant heritage is an essential part of, and inseparable from, our national identity.”Cabrini is the patron saint of immigrants and is the first American to be canonized.The message, titled “A Pilgrim People, A Shared Hope,” is signed by Archbishop James Golka and Auxiliary Bishop Jorge Rodriguez of Denver, Bishop Stephen Berg of Pueblo, and Father Kyle Ingels, the diocesan administrator of Colorado Springs, as well as several other Christian leaders across denominations. The letter comes as the Trump administration’s deportation efforts across the country continue to stir controversy among Catholics, including in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, which filed a lawsuit Oct. 5 against local and federal officials for barring priests from ministering to Catholic immigrant detainees. “We remember with respect the Indigenous peoples who inhabited this land long before the nation’s founding, as well as those brought here through slavery and denied the freedom our nation proclaimed,” the letter said. “We also give thanks for generations of immigrants and refugees who arrived carrying their faith, cultures, hopes, and gifts.”The letter underscored the contributions of immigrants across agriculture, business, science, medicine, technology, and more. “Here in Colorado, immigrants have worked in our mines and fields, taught in our schools, opened businesses, served in our hospitals, raised families and enriched our civic and religious life,” the letter said.Addressing concerns about national sovereignty and border security, the Christian leaders affirmed “both a nation’s responsibility to protect its people and maintain an orderly immigration system and its duty to treat every person with justice and mercy.”“Laws should serve the common good while respecting human dignity, protecting the vulnerable, preserving family unity and providing fair legal processes,” the letter said, concluding: “On this anniversary, we invite the faithful to remember the immigrant and refugee stories that have shaped their families and communities; to pray for those displaced from their homes; to support ministries that accompany newcomers; and to build friendships across differences of language, culture and nationality.”

Archbishop Lori tells women religious: ‘The Church looks to you with hope’ #Catholic Baltimore Archbishop William Lori this week praised an assembly of women religious major superiors for their witness of “evangelical poverty,” with the prelate noting the outsized influence that women religious have had on American society over the past 250 years. “You and those who came before you have taught our children, tended to the sick, welcomed immigrants, accompanied the dying, consoled the brokenhearted, and proclaimed Christ where no one else was willing to go,” the archbishop told the major superiors on Sept. 18 in Florissant, Missouri.“For that, the Church gives thanks. But gratitude alone is not enough. The Church also looks to you with hope,” he said. The archbishop spoke at the 2026 National Assembly of the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious, the theme of which was: “250 Years of Freedom: Daughters of the Church from One Generation to the Next.”The council comprises major superiors and vicars from 112 religious communities around the U.S. The group describes its national assembly as “the springboard for collaboration, participation, and dialogue among members” which “promotes unity among the major superiors that gives witness to the joy of religious life.”Addressing the gathering as the keynote speaker, Lori acknowledged the assembly’s recognition of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. The U.S. has been instrumental in advancing religious freedom and human dignity across the world, the archbishop argued. He noted that most histories of the founding of the U.S. focus on the Founding Fathers such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and others. But “the American experiment would have looked very different” without the contributions of “thousands and thousands of women religious,” he said.“Who welcomed wave after wave of immigrants? Who cared for the victims of epidemics when others fled? Who taught generations of children not simply arithmetic and grammar, but honesty, sacrifice, discipline, and love of God?” he said. Women religious “changed the nation because they first allowed Christ to change them,” the archbishop said. He noted the “paradox” in which those who take vows of poverty “enriched countless communities” and those who “renounced worldly ambition” often “exercised the greatest influence upon society.” “The world struggles to understand this paradox,” Lori said. “The Gospel does not.” Women religious have historically both upheld the ideals of America while challenging it when it “falls short of the Gospel,” Lori said. He cited the witness of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini’s “evangelical poverty” as she carried out the founding of schools, hospitals and orphanages around the world. And he further pointed to the work of Servant of God Sister Mary Thea Bowman, praising her for her “profoundly Catholic way” of confronting racism while evangelizing about the love of Christ. Urging the women religious to pursue “an ever-new embrace of the heart of your vocation,” Lori told the assembly: “The world needs women who have been seized by Christ.”“It needs women whose lives bear unmistakable witness to the truth that God is real, that holiness is possible, that sacrifice is fruitful, and that love poured out in communion with Christ can transform the world,” he said.