Tawadros II, Francis Reiterate Need for Dialogue Between World Churches

In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the historic meeting in the Vatican between Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Shenuda III, Coptic Orthodox Patriarch Tawadros II, and Vatican Pop Francis reiterated the need for dialogue between the world Christian churches in order to restore full unity among the baptized.

In his address on the eve of his three-day visit to Rome, from 10 to 12 May, Pop Tawadros II, Patriarch called for recognizing that the union between Christians of different denominations can only have its sources and flourish in the common "love in Christ".

Pope Tawadros recounted the meeting between Pope Montini and Patriarch Shenuda, and also recalled the first meeting he had with Pope Francis during his previous visit to Rome, which took place exactly 10 years ago.

Meanwhile, Pope Francis also recalled that he had invited the Coptic Patriarch to Rome "to celebrate with me the 50th anniversary of the historic meeting between Pope St. Paul VI and Pope Shenouda III in 1973. It was", recalled the Pontiff "the first meeting between a Bishop of Rome and a Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church, which culminated in the signing of a memorable joint Christological declaration, exactly on May 10".

"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 election and mine, and proposed to celebrate every May 10 the "Coptic-Catholic Friendship Day" that we have been celebrating since then."

He continued: "We call each other on the phone, we send each other greetings and we remain good brothers, we have not quarreled!".

Pope Francis took this occasion to hail the Coptic Patriarch "for his commitment to the growing friendship between the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church", and also recalled "the martyrs of the Coptic Church, who are also ours" recalling in particular "the martyrs of the Libyan beach, who became martyrs a few years ago".

It's worth mentioning that the Primate of the Coptic Orthodox Church was invited by Pope Francis to take part in the Wednesday Audience and to read his speech in front of the multitude gathered in a rain-soaked St. Peter's Square.