After a five-day siege of the St. George Church in kom Ombo, Aswan, life has returned to normal. The siege began after people accused the church of kidnapping a Muslim teacher and ended when security forces found her in Sharm el-Sheikh. The violent clashes ended when it became clear that there were no religious reasons behind her disappearance. While the security cordon around the church remained, the church opened its doors again on Sunday morning and welcomed a large number of Christians to morning Mass.

In another development, Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II ordained 16 new priests to the Orthodox Church. Additionally, the Pope decided to promote 10 bishops to the position of Archpriest.

Sunday Mar. 3 saw the inauguration of the sixth Patriarch for the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Bishop Matīyās was elected as the successor to Father Paulus who died on August 16, 2012. A delegate from the Egyptian Church, headed by Father Pachomius of Beheira and the five Western Cities, attended the inauguration in Addis Ababa (Rānīyah Nabīl, al-Sabāh, Mar. 5, p. 4). Read original text in Arabic