Charles Ajalat, an Eastern Orthodox activist from California who helped to start the FOCUS social service agency in the Hill District, is trying to get Congress to apply pressure regarding the kidnapping of two Syrian Orthodox bishops on April 22, 2013.
It’s unclear who is holding them: both the government of Syria and the rebels fighting them have blamed each other. Some accounts claim that Chechen militants who have come to Syria to support the rebels are to blame. Although the kidnapping of Christian clergy for ransom has become common during the civil war, no demand for ransom has been made public. At the time they were abducted the two bishops were returning from a failed attempt to negotiate the release of two priests -- one Orthodox and one Armenian Catholic -- who had been kidnapped nearly three months earlier.
One of the kidnapped prelates, Bishop Paul Yazigi, is Greek Orthodox, while Bishop John Ibrahim is Syriac. Bishop Ibrahim has life-threatening high blood pressure and diabetes, and is said to be in dire need of medication. The case has drawn

strong ecumenical support. Pope Francis has called for their release and on May 11 a large group of Eastern Catholics held a special Mass in Rome to pray for both the captive bishops and the priests they tried to free.

“Petals on a Flower” Finding the Balance in Our Purpose for Life” is the theme of the annual women’s conference at the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh, to be held Saturday April 20, 2013 from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the mosque in Oakland.
Tahera Ahmad, an associate chaplain at Northwestern University and head of the Islamic studies department at the Islamic Foundation School in Villa Park, Illinois, will speak on Islamic spirituality in the face of personal difficulties. Sohra Sarwari, who does personal coaching on life and business, will speak on striking a balance amid competing demands and commitments. Other topics include Islamic sisterhood, environmentalism, religious rights and leadership roles of women. The conference will begin and end with a Quran recital.
Individual tickets are $20 at the the door, with discounts for families of five or more, seniors and students.

The volunteer community work done by the wives of black Pentecostal bishops in the Greater Pittsburgh area will be honored Monday, April 8, 2013 at the Black History Achievement Awards banquet at the Airport Marriott hotel in Coraopolis.

Thirty women, some of whom have well known ministries in their own right, will be recognized at the banquet, which is honoring the legacies of Underground Railway conductor Harriet Tubman and civil rights matriarch Rosa Parks. In some wings of the black Pentecostal tradition the title bishop is given to leaders of significant congregations as well as to those with hierarchical jurisdiction over a region.

Among those honored will be the Rev. Annette Carswell of Potter's House Ministries, the Rev.  Barbara Garlington of Covenant Church of Pittsburgh, Barbara Mann of Pentecostal Temple, literacy advocate Rozelle Pamphile (whose husband is now the territorial bishop of Haiti) and the Rev. Lola M. Thorpe of the Northside Institutional Church of God in Christ.

The event is sponsored by the pastor's wives of the Church of God in Christ in western Pennsylvania. It features an all-day series of workshops on health, education and leadership trainining, as well as entertainment. Among the banquet speakers will be Brian Shirler on behalf of the National Awareness Campaign to End Domestic Child Sex Trafficking.

"We celebrate and honor those who have made a difference in their communities and who have aspired to the highest idea of commitment to their churches and family," said the announcement for the event.

Workshops start at  10 a.m., the banquet at 4 p.m. For more information contact The Rev. David Clark or Dr. Melessie Clark at 724-775-7856 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.