Coptic Orthodox Patriarch Tawadros II to Visit Rome, Italy, Meet Pope Francis

Coptic Orthodox Patriarch Tawadros II will visit Rome from May 9 to 14, meeting Pope Francis and presiding over a liturgy at the Lateran Basilica, according to Vatican News. The visit centers on what the Vatican News report calls the “Coptic Orthodox Church – Catholic Friendship Day” on May 10.

Fr. Hyacinthe Destivelle of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity told Vatican News that the visit marks three anniversaries. The first is the 50th anniversary of the 1973 meeting between Pope Paul VI and Shenouda III, the Coptic Orthodox patriarch at that time, when the two signed an agreement on Christology. Fr. Destivelle said that agreement is well known and served as the model for similar agreements with other Oriental Orthodox Churches that recognize the first three ecumenical councils. The second is the 10th anniversary of Patriarch Tawadros’s first visit to Rome in 2013. The third is the 1500th anniversary of the end of the Christological controversy concerning the Council of Chalcedon.

Fr. Destivelle described the visit as a milestone on the path toward full communion. He pointed to earlier steps, including the participation of observers from the Patriarchate of Alexandria in the Second Vatican Council, the return of the relics of St. Mark in 1968, the 1973 meeting, and the bilateral mixed commission established by the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. He said that in the theological dialogue within the mixed commission between the Catholic Church and all the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Coptic Orthodox Church has served as co-chair from the beginning.

According to Fr. Destivelle, the Patriarch will make a pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Peter on May 9. On May 10 he will attend the public Wednesday audience in St. Peter’s Square, so that more people can learn about the Friendship Day that day. On May 11 he will meet privately with Pope Francis and pray together with him for a moment.

On May 14, Patriarch Tawadros will celebrate a liturgy for the faithful of his Church at the Lateran Basilica. Fr. Destivelle said the Church has about 100,000 faithful in Italy and that tens of thousands of participants are expected. He said the use of the Bishop of Rome’s cathedral was authorized because of the visit’s historic significance. The Patriarch will not celebrate at the Pope’s altar but will use his own altar for the Coptic liturgy. Fr. Destivelle noted that the Coptic Orthodox Church comes down from the Apostles and that the Catholic Church recognizes all its sacraments and shares the same understanding of the Eucharist and the priesthood. The authorization to use the Lateran Basilica is also, in the report’s words, a “gesture of friendship” from the Catholic Church toward the Coptic Orthodox Church, a step toward unity (John 17:21).

Source: Read the original report (translated from Mandarin Chinese)