VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Two popes sat aspect by aspect earlier than a crowd of rain-soaked pilgrims in St. Peter’s Sq. Might 10.

Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II, patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt, was on the Vatican to mark the fiftieth anniversary of a joint declaration signed by St. Paul VI and Pope Shenouda III in 1973 outlining the beliefs shared by their church buildings.

Earlier than his normal viewers, Pope Francis embraced Pope Tawadros and kissed his encolpion, an icon Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic bishops put on as an alternative of a pectoral cross.

Through the viewers, the 2 publicly exchanged greetings and took turns addressing the group.

“Regardless of the variations in our roots and affiliations, we’re united by the love of Christ who dwells inside us and the host of our apostle fathers and saints who information us,” Pope Tawadros stated, talking in Arabic. “Allow us to stroll collectively in life taking into consideration the promise (God) has made to us — everlasting life — accompanying and supporting one another with prayers in response to this promise.”

Calling for Catholics and Copts to like each other, Pope Tawadros stated that “despite the fact that we go in opposition to the tide of the grasping and egocentric world, now we have accepted the problem of affection that Christ asks of us, and we might be true Christians, and the world might be extra human, as a result of it should know that God is love and that that is his highest identify.”

After congratulating Pope Francis on the tenth anniversary of his preach, celebrated in March, Pope Tawadros recalled his journey to Rome and assembly with Pope Francis in 2013, which, he stated, was “full of cohesion.”

Now annually on Might 10, the anniversary of the 1973 assembly between their predecessors, the 2 popes communicate over the cellphone and change greetings. That custom, stated Pope Tawadros, “embodies the Christian spirit and love that unites us in serving God and serving our brothers and sisters in humanity.”

Pope Tawadros additionally thanked Pope Francis for his go to to Egypt in April 2017, which he referred to as a “nice blessing for all of Egypt,” and recalling Pope Francis’ messages for his or her church communities to collectively turn out to be “a dwelling picture of the heavenly Jerusalem.”

Placing apart his typical weekly catechesis, Pope Francis thanked Pope Tawadros for his go to to Rome and dedication to the “rising friendship” between their church buildings.

He referred to the 21 Coptic Christian martyrs, who he stated, “are additionally ours,” that had been killed by the Islamic State in Libya in 2015, and he requested for his or her intercession in fostering communion between the 2 church buildings. The 2 popes then collectively blessed the group of tourists in St. Peter’s Sq..

Pope Tawadros was scheduled to fulfill privately with Pope Francis Might 11 earlier than assembly with officers from the Dicastery for Selling Christian Unity. He additionally was scheduled to fulfill with Rome’s Coptic Christian group and have a good time Divine Liturgy Might 14 within the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of Rome.

In a collectively written preface to a e book in regards to the 1973 declaration, the 2 popes expressed their want for his or her church buildings to “journey towards full communion,” and gave thanks for “the steps already taken, and the gap already traveled, which are sometimes rather more essential than we think about.”

Copyright © 2023 Catholic Information Service/U.S. Convention of Catholic Bishops

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