07:47 PM
Wednesday, November 6, 2024
Books – Amr Saleh:
His Holiness Pope Tawadros II received at the papal residence in Cairo today, Wednesday, the President of the Republic of Estonia, Alar Kares, and his accompanying delegation.
According to the church statement, His Holiness the Pope expressed his happiness with the visit of the President of Estonia and the accompanying delegation to Egypt and the Coptic Church, pointing out that Egypt is a country that has a special level in terms of history and geography, as Egyptians live around the Nile River and are closely linked to the homeland, and they consider the river to be the father and the land. the mom.
Pope Tawadros pointed out that Egypt is also a country with a long history and rich civilization, due to the accumulation of many civilizations there, such as the Pharaonic, Christian, Islamic, Mediterranean, Arab and other civilizations.
Pope Tawadros noted that the unity of the Egyptian people is a natural unity that resulted from life around the river, so much so that it is not possible to know the difference between a Christian Egyptian and a Muslim Egyptian, as they are all Egyptians.
Pope Tawadros explained that the Holy Family visited Egypt and toured from north to south and from east to west, and the land of Egypt was blessed with that visit.
Concerning the Coptic Orthodox Church, His Holiness the Pope said: “The Church began in Alexandria at the hands of Saint Mark the Apostle, who was also martyred in Alexandria,” and that the word “Coptic” means Egyptian, and that the Church of Alexandria is distinguished by faith, martyrdom, and monasticism that began with the monk “Antonius,” of whom there is Monastery near the Red Sea, eastern Egypt.
Regarding the Coptic Church’s relationship with all parts of the state, His Holiness affirmed that the Church has good relations with President Sisi, the government, Parliament, and the official Islamic institution (Al-Azhar), as well as with the various churches in Egypt and the world, referring to the Council of Churches of Egypt, which includes all the churches present in the land of Egypt.
His Holiness drew attention to the spiritual role of the Church and the social role through which the Church tries to give Christian love a practical image, by establishing schools and hospitals that open their doors to all Egyptians without discrimination, and stressed that we seek to establish peace and love everywhere.
His Holiness the Pope praised the church building law approved by the Egyptian state during the era of President Sisi as a result of the Egyptians’ revolution on June 30, 2013, and that this law provided the opportunity for Christians to practice their worship without disruption, and he pointed to the Sunday school service in which the children of the church were raised from childhood, and the guest president asked him Regarding the type of education that children receive in Sunday schools, His Holiness the Pope replied that we teach our children the Bible, doctrine, church ritual, the Coptic language, and other church sciences.
He concluded: “We pray that peace will prevail among all countries of the world, and that wars will end.”
For his part, President Karis expressed his thanks to His Holiness the Pope for the good reception, noting his keenness to visit the Coptic Orthodox Church as part of his visit to Egypt, and that his country also enjoys the accumulation of a rich wealth of influences from the various cultures that were present in it, such as Russian, Polish, Danish, and others. He also visited many churches, stressing his happiness at visiting Egypt, which he had visited twice before, and hoping to increase cooperation between the two countries, and between universities in Egypt and Estonia, especially since his country gives special importance to education, and that all work in Estonia is done digitally.
He stressed that his meeting today with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi was very distinguished, and he concluded by reiterating his thanks to His Holiness the Pope for the good meeting and good reception.
After the end of the session, the Estonian President wrote a word in the register of VIP visitors. He also inspected the St. Mark’s Cathedral building from the outside and listened to an explanation about it from His Holiness the Pope.