Pope Francis Makes History by Permitting Coptic Orthodox Martyrs to be Entered into the Catholic Liturgical Book of Saints
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Pope Francis greets Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II and recalls the history of relations between Copts and Catholics as they strive to maintain a friendship that never stops growing.
Pope Francis on Thursday addressed Coptic-Orthodox Pope Tawadros II and his delegation, who are in Rome to celebrate 50 years of Coptic and Catholic relationships, as well as the tenth anniversary of their first meeting in 2013. (Vatican News)SPEECH OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
TO HIS HOLINESS TAWADROS II,
POPE OF ALEXANDRIA AND HEAD OF THE COPTICAL ORTHODOX CHURCH, AND FOLLOWED
Thursday, May 11, 2023
________________________________________
Holiness! Dear brothers in Christ!
«This is the day that the Lord has made: let us rejoice and be glad in it!». It is with this Easter acclamation that, fifty years ago, Pope Saint Paul VI welcomed his venerated predecessor, Pope Shenouda III, into Saint Peter's Basilica. It is with the same acclamation that I welcome you today, beloved brother and dear friend Tawadros. I sincerely thank you for accepting my invitation to commemorate together the jubilee of this historic event in 1973, as well as the tenth anniversary of our first meeting in 2013.
In the ecumenical journey, it is important to always look ahead.
By cultivating in our hearts a healthy impatience and an ardent desire for unity, we must be, like the Apostle Paul, "looking towards the future" (cf. Phil 3:13) and constantly ask ourselves: "Quanta est nobis via?" – How far is there left to go? However, it is also necessary to remember, especially in moments of discouragement, to rejoice in the path already covered and to draw on the fervor of the pioneers who preceded us. Looking ahead and remembering. And yet, it is undoubtedly even more necessary to look up, to thank the Lord for the steps taken and to beg him to give us the gift of the longed-for unity.
Thank and plead. This is the purpose of our commemoration today. The meeting of our Predecessors, which took place in Rome from 9 to 13 May 1973, marked an historic stage in the relations between the See of Saint Peter and the See of Saint Mark. It was the first meeting between a Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church and a Bishop of Rome. It also marked the end of a theological controversy dating back to the Council of Chalcedon, thanks to the signing, on May 10, 1973, of a memorable common Christological declaration, which later served as an inspiration for similar agreements with other Eastern Orthodox Churches.
The meeting led to the creation of the International Joint Commission between the Catholic Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church, which in 1979 adopted the pioneering Principles to guide the search for unity between the Catholic Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church, signed by Pope St. John Paul II and by Pope Shenouda III, in which he affirmed, with prophetic words, that «the unity we imagine does not mean the absorption of one by the other or the dominion of one over the other. It is at the service of everyone to help them better experience the specific gifts they have received from the Spirit of God".
This mixed Commission then paved the way for the birth of a fruitful theological dialogue between the Catholic Church and the entire family of the Eastern Orthodox Churches, which held its first meeting in 2004 in Cairo, hosted by His Holiness Shenouda. I thank the Coptic Orthodox Church for its commitment to this theological dialogue. I am also grateful to Your Holiness for the fraternal attention that you continue to pay to the Coptic Catholic Church, a closeness that has found commendable expression in the creation of the National Council of Christian Churches in Egypt.
As can be seen, the meeting of our illustrious Predecessors has never ceased to bear fruit on the journey of our Churches towards full communion. It is also in memory of the 1973 meeting that Your Holiness met me here for the first time on 10 May 2013, a few months after your enthronement and a few weeks after the beginning of my pontificate. On that occasion, she proposed to celebrate the "Day of Friendship between Copts and Catholics" every May 10, which has been celebrated punctually by our Churches ever since.
When it comes to friendship, the famous eighth-century Coptic icon comes to mind depicting the Lord resting his hand on the shoulder of his friend, the holy monk Mena of Egypt. This icon is sometimes called the "friendship icon" because the Lord seems to want to accompany his friend and walk with him. Similarly, the bonds of friendship between our Churches are rooted in the friendship of Jesus Christ himself with all his disciples whom he himself calls "friends" (cf. Jn 15:15), and whom he accompanies on their journey, as he did with Emmaus pilgrims.
POPE OF ALEXANDRIA AND HEAD OF THE COPTICAL ORTHODOX CHURCH, AND FOLLOWED
Thursday, May 11, 2023
________________________________________
Holiness! Dear brothers in Christ!
«This is the day that the Lord has made: let us rejoice and be glad in it!». It is with this Easter acclamation that, fifty years ago, Pope Saint Paul VI welcomed his venerated predecessor, Pope Shenouda III, into Saint Peter's Basilica. It is with the same acclamation that I welcome you today, beloved brother and dear friend Tawadros. I sincerely thank you for accepting my invitation to commemorate together the jubilee of this historic event in 1973, as well as the tenth anniversary of our first meeting in 2013.
In the ecumenical journey, it is important to always look ahead.
By cultivating in our hearts a healthy impatience and an ardent desire for unity, we must be, like the Apostle Paul, "looking towards the future" (cf. Phil 3:13) and constantly ask ourselves: "Quanta est nobis via?" – How far is there left to go? However, it is also necessary to remember, especially in moments of discouragement, to rejoice in the path already covered and to draw on the fervor of the pioneers who preceded us. Looking ahead and remembering. And yet, it is undoubtedly even more necessary to look up, to thank the Lord for the steps taken and to beg him to give us the gift of the longed-for unity.
Thank and plead. This is the purpose of our commemoration today. The meeting of our Predecessors, which took place in Rome from 9 to 13 May 1973, marked an historic stage in the relations between the See of Saint Peter and the See of Saint Mark. It was the first meeting between a Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church and a Bishop of Rome. It also marked the end of a theological controversy dating back to the Council of Chalcedon, thanks to the signing, on May 10, 1973, of a memorable common Christological declaration, which later served as an inspiration for similar agreements with other Eastern Orthodox Churches.
The meeting led to the creation of the International Joint Commission between the Catholic Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church, which in 1979 adopted the pioneering Principles to guide the search for unity between the Catholic Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church, signed by Pope St. John Paul II and by Pope Shenouda III, in which he affirmed, with prophetic words, that «the unity we imagine does not mean the absorption of one by the other or the dominion of one over the other. It is at the service of everyone to help them better experience the specific gifts they have received from the Spirit of God".
This mixed Commission then paved the way for the birth of a fruitful theological dialogue between the Catholic Church and the entire family of the Eastern Orthodox Churches, which held its first meeting in 2004 in Cairo, hosted by His Holiness Shenouda. I thank the Coptic Orthodox Church for its commitment to this theological dialogue. I am also grateful to Your Holiness for the fraternal attention that you continue to pay to the Coptic Catholic Church, a closeness that has found commendable expression in the creation of the National Council of Christian Churches in Egypt.
As can be seen, the meeting of our illustrious Predecessors has never ceased to bear fruit on the journey of our Churches towards full communion. It is also in memory of the 1973 meeting that Your Holiness met me here for the first time on 10 May 2013, a few months after your enthronement and a few weeks after the beginning of my pontificate. On that occasion, she proposed to celebrate the "Day of Friendship between Copts and Catholics" every May 10, which has been celebrated punctually by our Churches ever since.
When it comes to friendship, the famous eighth-century Coptic icon comes to mind depicting the Lord resting his hand on the shoulder of his friend, the holy monk Mena of Egypt. This icon is sometimes called the "friendship icon" because the Lord seems to want to accompany his friend and walk with him. Similarly, the bonds of friendship between our Churches are rooted in the friendship of Jesus Christ himself with all his disciples whom he himself calls "friends" (cf. Jn 15:15), and whom he accompanies on their journey, as he did with Emmaus pilgrims.
On this journey of friendship we are also accompanied by martyrs, who testify that "greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends" (Jn 15:13). I have no words to express my gratitude for the precious gift of a relic of the Coptic martyrs killed in Libya on February 15, 2015. These martyrs were baptized not only in water and the Spirit, but also in blood, a blood that is seed of unity for all followers of Christ. I am pleased to announce today that, with the consent of Your Holiness, these 21 martyrs will be included in the Roman Martyrology as a sign of the spiritual communion that unites our two Churches.
May the prayer of the Coptic martyrs, united with that of the Theotokos, continue to make our Churches grow in friendship, until the blessed day when we will be able to celebrate together at the same altar and communicate to the same Body and Blood of the Savior, "so that the world believe” (Jn 17:21)!
Source: Vatican.va with Screenshot
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