Greeks Call for Church Properties to be Taxed

As protests continue against the Greek government's austerity measures there is a spreading call for the Church of Greece to pay higher taxes on its properties, which when grouped together make the Greek Orthodox Church the second largest landowner in Greece after the national government. More here. Hat tip to Ad Orientem!

24 Dead in Cairo Clashes

Riots broke out in Cairo over the weekend as Coptic Orthodox protests over the plight of a church in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Aswan turned into clashes with Egyptian security forces. Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf is urging calm in the aftermath of the riots, in which twenty-four died. More here.

Syria Appoints New Defense Minister

In an effort to accelerate the repression of Sunni Muslim uprisings across Syria the country's President Bashar al-Assad has dismissed his defense minister and replaced him with General Daoud Rajiha. The appointment comes as a surprise as the key position in the Syrian government has normally been reserved for members of al-Assad's Alawi Muslim minority. (General Rajiha is an Antiochian Orthodox Christian.) More here.

Weekend Protests in Israel Draw 300,000

Over 300,000 Israelis took to the streets over the weekend in one of the largest popular demonstrations in the country's history to protest what demonstrators called the Israeli government's social justice violations, with one speaker (a rabbi) saying that, "[Israel] has room for all...Jews and non-Jews." More here and here.

Copts, Secularists to Join Friday Protests

Coptic Orthodox and secularist political movements have announced that they intend to participate in demonstrations tomorrow on Tahrir Square alongside Islamist organizations, which had called for protests on a 'Friday of Identity' to defend a supposedly Muslim Egyptian national identity. It appears that the demonstrations will now be in support of 'popular will,' though whether all the Islamist groups originally intending to participate agree with the new designation. More here.

Pope Shenouda Orders Investigation into Divorce Demands

Pope Shenouda III (al-Suriani) of the Coptic Orthodox Church is having the demands of pro-divorce, pro-remarriage demonstrators in Cairo investigated to discern whether they should in fact have been allowed to divorce by the Church due to their individual situations. (Currently, only a change in faith or adultery are causes for the Church to grant a couple divorce.) More here.

Tbilisi Marches Protest New Legislation on Religious Organizations

Large protest marches took place over the weekend in Tbilisi, Georgia, to protest the Georgian government's enactment of legislation allowing the country's minority religious organizations to register with the state. The marches, the largest in recent years, were fueled by concerns that southeastern Georgia's Armenian minority will use the new legislation to gain equality with ethnic Georgians and by the Sunday sermon of Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II (Gudushauri-Shiolashvili) of the Georgian Orthodox Church, who said the new laws "humiliated the Church" and those behind them would "definitely be punished." More here and here.

Antiochian Orthodox Priest Leading Demonstration in Orlando

An Antiochian Orthodox priest from northwestern Florida is headed to Orlando, Florida, to lead a demonstration there in support of an organization facing legal trouble for feeding some of the city's homeless. More here. Hat tip to Byzantine Texas for posting this first!

Coptic Orthodox Church Renews Call for No Youth Protests

The Coptic Orthodox Church has again called on a Coptic Orthodox youth movement not to hold a second sit-in in the Egyptian capital. More here.

Copts End Minya Protests

Copts protesting in the Upper Egyptian city of Minya have ended their protests after Egyptian police promised to find two teenage Coptic Orthodox girls, Christine Ezzat Fathy and Nancy Magdy Fathy, who went missing this past Sunday. The police's promise comes after clashes between the demonstrators and security forces Wednesday that left six Copts and three policemen injured. More here.

Right to Life Rally in Chisinau

In honor of today's observance of International Children's Day pro-life organizations and the Moldovan Orthodox Church have organized a march in the Moldovan capital, Chisinau, to support the right to life of unborn children. Metropolitan Vladimir (Cantarean) of Chisinau blessed the holding of the march and sent one of his clergymen to represent him as he was unable to attend in person. More (in Romanian) here.

100,000 Protest Greek Government's Handling of Economic Crisis

Some 100,000 Greeks took to the streets of Athens and other major cities to protest the ongoing economic crisis in Greece and the Greek government's failure to deal with it in a way that protects the interests of the country's citizens. The protests received the support of Archbishop Anthimos of Thessalonica, the most prominent diocese of the Constantinopolitan Orthodox Church in Greek-occupied southern Macedonia. More here.

Egyptian Politician Denounces Plans for Anti-Corruption March in Cairo

Prominent Coptic Orthodox businessman and politician Naguib Sawiris has denounced plans for a million-strong march in Cairo to demand the trial of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and other prominent Egyptians for corruption. More here.

Bulgarian Ultra-Nationalists Attack Sofia Muslims

This past Friday Bulgarian ultra-nationalists attacked Turkish Muslims praying at a mosque in downtown Sofia, beating many of them and burning their prayer rugs. A member of the Bulgarian Parliament involved in the attack was injured during the ensuing fight. More on the attack here. Following the incident several hundred Bulgarians organized a demonstration in Sofia, laying flowers at the mosque in protest of the attack. More here.

Copts Resume Cairo Protests

Hours after ending their protests outside the Egyptian state media buildings in Cairo last week Coptic Orthodox resumed their protests after learning that three churches that the Egyptian government had committed to reopening would not be reopened due to the demands of Muslim fundamentalists. More here and here.

Cairene Copts Halt Protest

Organizers of protests outside the Egyptian state media offices in Cairo have called off the protests as the Egyptian government begins meeting some of their demands. More here.

Egyptian Armed Forces Will Not End Cairo Sit-In

The Egyptian Armed Forces have stated their intention not to end a Coptic sit-in in front of the Egyptian state media offices in Cairo and to protect the protesters there from further attacks. More here.

Egyptian PM Promises to Reopen 16 Churches

Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf has committed to reopening 16 Coptic Orthodox churches that had previously been closed in response to ongoing protests outside the Egyptian state media headquarters in Cairo. More here.

Pope Shenouda Calls for an End to Cairo Protest

Pope Shenouda III (al-Suriani) of Alexandria has called on Copts demonstrating outside the Egyptian state media offices in Cairo to end their protests for the sake of Egypt, saying that the "patience of the rulers is starting to end and you will be the losers if you continue in the protest." More here.

Attack on Cairene Copts Kills 2, Injures 60

Two are dead and over sixty injured in Cairo after unidentified gunmen opened fire on a peaceful sit-in at the Egyptian state media buildings organized by Copts upset over the burning of two Coptic Orthodox churches in Giza. Egyptian riot police were deployed to separate from the gunmen and the Coptic protesters, but not before lives had been lost. More here.