Pope Francis welcomes Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met on Friday with the leader of the Coptic Orthodox
Church, Pope Tawadros II, telling him the future of Egypt and the role of its Christian
communities finds a deep echo in the heart of the entire Catholic world. Pope
Tawadros of Alexandria, who heads the largest Christian Church in the Middle East,
is currently making a five day visit to Rome, his first outside Egypt since his enthronement
last November. He’s due to hold talks with Vatican and Italian officials, as well
as celebrating together with the various Coptic communities here in Italy. Friday’s
meeting between the Catholic and Oriental Orthodox popes comes 40 years to the day
after the first historic encounter between Pope Paul VI and Tawadros’ predecessor,
Shenouda III, who signed a joint statement pledging the two Churches to the search
for reconciliation and unity. In his speech to Pope Francis, Tawadros proposed
that May 10th each year should be marked as a day of celebration between
the two communities. He also invited the successor of St Peter to visit his Church,
founded by St Mark the Evangelist around the middle of the 1st century. Following
the papal audience, Philippa Hitchen spoke to the Coptic leader and asked for his
impressions of the meeting…
Listen:
Please find
below the full text of Pope Francis' address to Pope Tawadros and his delegation:
Your
Holiness, Dear Brothers in Christ, For me it is a great joy and a truly graced
moment to be able to receive all of you here, at the tomb of Saint Peter, as we recall
that historic meeting forty years ago between our predecessors, Pope Paul VI and the
late Pope Shenouda III, in an embrace of peace and fraternity, after centuries of
mutual distrust. So it is with deep affection that I welcome Your Holiness and the
distinguished members of your delegation, and I thank you for your words. Through
you, I extend my cordial greetings in the Lord to the bishops, the clergy, the monks
and the whole Coptic Orthodox Church. Today’s visit strengthens the bonds of friendship
and brotherhood that already exist between the See of Peter and the See of Mark, heir
to an inestimable heritage of martyrs, theologians, holy monks and faithful disciples
of Christ, who have borne witness to the Gospel from generation to generation, often
in situations of great adversity. Forty years ago the Common Declaration of our
predecessors represented a milestone on the ecumenical journey, and from it emerged
a Commission for Theological Dialogue between our Churches, which has yielded good
results and has prepared the ground for a broader dialogue between the Catholic Church
and the entire family of Oriental Orthodox Churches, a dialogue that continues to
bear fruit to this day. In that solemn Declaration, our Churches acknowledged that,
in line with the apostolic traditions, they profess “one faith in the One Triune God”
and “the divinity of the Only-begotten Son of God ... perfect God with respect to
his divinity, perfect man with respect to his humanity”. They acknowledged that divine
life is given to us and nourished through the seven sacraments and they recognized
a mutual bond in their common devotion to the Mother of God. We are glad to be
able to confirm today what our illustrious predecessors solemnly declared, we are
glad to recognize that we are united by one Baptism, of which our common prayer is
a special expression, and we long for the day when, in fulfilment of the Lord’s desire,
we will be able to communicate from the one chalice. Of course we are well aware
that the path ahead may still prove to be long, but we do not want to forget the considerable
distance already travelled, which has taken tangible form in radiant moments of communion,
among which I am pleased to recall the meeting in February 2000 in Cairo between Pope
Shenouda III and Blessed John Paul II, who went as a pilgrim, during the Great Jubilee,
to the places of origin of our faith. I am convinced that – under the guidance of
the Holy Spirit – our persevering prayer, our dialogue and the will to build communion
day by day in mutual love will allow us to take important further steps towards full
unity. Your Holiness, I am aware of the many marks of attention and fraternal
charity that you have shown, since the early days of your ministry, to the Catholic
Coptic Church, to its Pastor, Patriarch Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak and to his predecessor,
Cardinal Antonios Naguib. The institution of a “National Council of Christian Churches”,
which you strongly desired, represents an important sign of the will of all believers
in Christ to develop relations in daily life that are increasingly fraternal and to
put themselves at the service of the whole of Egyptian society, of which they form
an integral part. Let me assure you that your efforts to build communion among believers
in Christ, and your lively interest in the future of your country and the role of
the Christian communities within Egyptian society find a deep echo in the heart of
the Successor of Peter and of the entire Catholic community. “If one member suffers,
all suffer together; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together” (1 Cor 12:26).
This is a law of the Christian life, and in this sense we can say that there is also
an ecumenism of suffering: just as the blood of the martyrs was a seed of strength
and fertility for the Church, so too the sharing of daily sufferings can become an
effective instrument of unity. And this also applies, in a certain sense, to the
broader context of society and relations between Christians and non-Christians: from
shared suffering can blossom forth forgiveness and reconciliation, with God’s help. Your
Holiness, in assuring you of my prayers that the whole flock entrusted to your pastoral
care may be ever faithful to the Lord’s call, I invoke the protection of both Saint
Peter and Saint Mark: may they who during their lifetime worked together in practical
ways for the spread of the Gospel, intercede for us and accompany the journey of our
Churches.