2023-05-10 11:34:00
May 10, 2023 / 4:34 a.m.
Pope Francis and the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria, Tawadros II, carried out an unprecedented and historic gesture at the General Audience on Wednesday May 10 in Saint Peter’s Square.
Praying the Our Father together, blessing the Catholic and Coptic faithful, remembering 21 Coptic martyrs slaughtered by the Islamic State in Libya, were part of the unprecedented gestures made by Pope Francis in the company of Tawadros II in the Vatican square.
It was an unprecedented ecumenical gesture. A Coptic Orthodox Patriarch invited by a Pope to participate in the General Audience next to him.
Tawadros II is in Rome invited by the Holy Father to commemorate together the 50th anniversary of the meeting between Saint Paul VI and Pope Shenouda III. With this historic meeting in May 1973, a dialogue and a common path began between the two churches.
Probably due to the rain this morning, with the public in mind, and to focus the commemorative event on making visible the “fraternal” presence of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch in Rome, Pope Francis did not preach his traditional catechesis on Wednesday.
Precisely, the event began with a greeting from the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch, a speech in Arabic dedicated to those present and to the Pontiff.
After the Patriarch’s congratulations and thanks, Tawadros II stressed that he “appreciates all that the Pope has done during this time to the whole world and prays that Christ keeps him in good health.”
This was a novelty. In 2008, the Armenian Catholic Karekin II had been invited to an audience by Benedict XVI, but did not speak.
Coptic-Catholic friendship
The General Audience was also an opportunity to commemorate the Coptic-Catholic friendship.
“It is with great joy that I greet today His Holiness Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of Saint Mark, and the illustrious delegation accompanying him,” Pope Francis said in his speech.
“His Holiness Tawadros accepted my invitation to come to Rome to celebrate with me the 50th anniversary of the historic meeting between Pope Saint Paul VI and Pope Shenouda III in 1973. This was the first meeting between a Bishop of Rome and a Patriarch of the Church. Coptic Orthodox, which culminated in the signing of a memorable joint Christological declaration on May 10,” the Holy Father noted.
Later, he indicated that “in remembrance of this event, His Holiness Tawadros came to see me for the first time on May 10, ten years ago, a few months after his and my election, and proposed that I celebrate May 10 on the Day of the Coptic-Catholic Friendship, which we have celebrated every year since then, we spoke to each other on the phone, we greeted each other, we are still good brothers, we have not fought.”
“Dear friend and brother Tawadros, I thank you for accepting my invitation on this double anniversary, and I pray that the light of the Holy Spirit illuminates your visit to Rome, the important meetings you will have here and, above all, our personal conversations. Thank you I sincerely appreciate your commitment to the growing friendship between the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church,” Pope Francis said in his greeting.
The Pope recalled the 21 Copts kidnapped by the Islamic State
On the other hand, the Pope recalled the martyrs of the Libyan beach who were turned into martyrs a few years ago. Most of the 21 hostages killed were migrants from a small village in Egypt, who had gone to neighboring Libya to work. They were kidnapped by militias linked to the Islamic State, in Sirte, between the months of December 2014 and January 2015.
“I ask all present to pray to God to bless the visit of Pope Tawadros to Rome and to protect the entire Coptic Orthodox Church. May this visit bring us closer to the blessed day when we will be one in Christ!” the Pope said. , which immediately went to greetings in different languages without the traditional catechesis.
Before starting the General Audience, after taking a ride in the popemobile to greet the Catholic and Coptic faithful in Saint Peter’s Square, the Pontiff hugged Tawadros II and kissed his pectoral cross, Enkolpion. The meeting concluded by reciting together the Our Father and the blessing. “I urge everyone to pray to the Virgin Mary in the month dedicated to her. To her, Comforter of the afflicted and Queen of Peace, I entrust the tormented Ukraine,” he concluded.
#Pope #Francis #embraces #Tawadros #CopticCatholic #Friendship #Day