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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis’ meeting with the Coptic Orthodox leader, Pope Tawadros in Cairo on Friday will be an important sign of solidarity with Christians who suffer and die for their faith in Egypt and throughout the Middle East.That’s the view of Msgr Gabriel Quicke who heads the office for dialogue with the Oriental Orthodox Churches at the Vatican’s Council for Christian Unity.Last week he accompanied Cardinal Kurt Koch and Pope Francis’ private secretary to Egypt with a personal message of condolences in the wake of two bomb attacks on churches in Alexandria and Tanta, north of Cairo. The twin attacks on Palm Sunday, claimed by so-called Islamic State militants, left at least 45 people dead and dozens of others injured.Msgr Quicke says the Coptic Pope was deeply “touched by that sign of spiritual attention” and closeness to the suffering Christian communities. Speaking to Philippa Hitchen, he says Pope Francis’ encounter with Taw...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis’ meeting with the Coptic Orthodox leader, Pope Tawadros in Cairo on Friday will be an important sign of solidarity with Christians who suffer and die for their faith in Egypt and throughout the Middle East.
That’s the view of Msgr Gabriel Quicke who heads the office for dialogue with the Oriental Orthodox Churches at the Vatican’s Council for Christian Unity.
Last week he accompanied Cardinal Kurt Koch and Pope Francis’ private secretary to Egypt with a personal message of condolences in the wake of two bomb attacks on churches in Alexandria and Tanta, north of Cairo. The twin attacks on Palm Sunday, claimed by so-called Islamic State militants, left at least 45 people dead and dozens of others injured.
Msgr Quicke says the Coptic Pope was deeply “touched by that sign of spiritual attention” and closeness to the suffering Christian communities. Speaking to Philippa Hitchen, he says Pope Francis’ encounter with Tawadros will be an important “continuation of the ecumenical path towards full and visible unity” of the Churches.
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Msgr Quicke recalls that in 2015, following the beheading of 21 Coptic Christians on a beach in Libya, the Coptic bishop in Italy, Msgr Barnaba asked if Pope Francis could send a message of solidarity with the Coptic community. On Palm Sunday, he said, following the latest attacks, the Holy Father asked him to accompany Cardinal Kurt Koch, together with his own private secretary, to Egypt with a message of condolences.
It was a very brief visit, with an overnight stay at the Apostolic nunciature in Cairo, followed by an early morning journey to Alexandria to the residence of Pope Tawadros there.
Spiritual closeness to victims
The Catholic delegation brought a message of condolences and solidarity, expressing Pope Francis “spiritual closeness in prayer, in heart and mind” to all those affected by the attacks. Msgr Quicke says the Coptic leader was “very touched emotionally, by that sign of spiritual attention” and asked “to express his closeness as well” recalling that during their meeting in Rome in 2013, “they promised one another to pray for one another every day”.
Ecumenism of blood
During that encounter in the Vatican, shortly after both men were elected, Msgr Quicke notes that Pope Francis spoke forcefully about “the ecumenism of blood” of the Coptic martyrs. He repeated the phrase following the beheadings in 2015, stressing that “they are not persecuted because they are Orthodox” or Copts, but “because they are Christian”. Citing the early Christian author from Carthage, Tertullian, he said “as the blood of the [first] martyrs became the seed for the growing of the Christian Church, [so] the blood of the martyrs becomes the seed nowadays for the unity of Christians”.
Strengthen solidarity among Christians
During the brief visit to Cairo, Msgr Quicke says he sensed that “not only the Coptic Orthodox Church, but all Christians, the whole Muslim community and all Egypt is waiting for the visit of the pope”. Although the encounter between two popes will be an important “continuation of the ecumenical path” towards Christian unity, the papal trip will also be an opportunity for the Holy Father to meet with the small Catholic community “ to strengthen the bonds of solidarity and fraternity between all Christians”.
Catholics in Africa need to constantly reclaim the faith that they received at baptism and not abandon the Church in search of other Christian Churches.Nigeria’s Obiageli Nzenwa, a Medical Lab Technologist and Human Resource Management Consultant made the challenge to Catholic laypersons when she spoke to Vatican Radio in an interview. Obiageli was reflecting and re-echoing a talk she gave at an African Christian Theological Conference in Rome, recently. The Conference which brought together leading experts, scholars, and theologians reflected on the 20th-century origins of African Christian theology as well as its contemporary and future mission. The Conference was hosted and organised by the University of Notre Dame’s Center for Ethics and Culture in collaboration with Fr. Paulinus Odozor, C.S.Sp. also of the University of Notre Dame.Obiageli who lives in Abuja with her husband and their five children attended the Conference in her individual capacity as a devout Cat...
Catholics in Africa need to constantly reclaim the faith that they received at baptism and not abandon the Church in search of other Christian Churches.
Nigeria’s Obiageli Nzenwa, a Medical Lab Technologist and Human Resource Management Consultant made the challenge to Catholic laypersons when she spoke to Vatican Radio in an interview. Obiageli was reflecting and re-echoing a talk she gave at an African Christian Theological Conference in Rome, recently. The Conference which brought together leading experts, scholars, and theologians reflected on the 20th-century origins of African Christian theology as well as its contemporary and future mission. The Conference was hosted and organised by the University of Notre Dame’s Center for Ethics and Culture in collaboration with Fr. Paulinus Odozor, C.S.Sp. also of the University of Notre Dame.
Obiageli who lives in Abuja with her husband and their five children attended the Conference in her individual capacity as a devout Catholic and parishioner of the Archdiocese of Abuja.
According to Obiageli leaving the Catholic Church for another is not a real solution. She urged Catholics, in Africa, to persevere in their faith within the Church.
However, Obiageli was of the view that parish priests in Africa equally need to stay abreast of new issues facing the laity and be in a position to give comprehensive explanations on moral and pastoral challenges facing the laity.
Obiageli cites the problem of childlessness in Africa as a matter that is of great concern to many couples and families. As a result, many couples in Africa are turning to In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF). The irony is that many priests are unaware of this trend in spite of the Church’s long-standing rejection of reproductive technologies that manipulate human embryos. Some priests, she says, do not even know what the procedure is all about.
“I was really, really surprised to know that a lot of priests don’t even know what IVF is all about. If they do not know, and a parishioner comes to them with that kind of problem, I wonder what the priest would tell the parishioner. I am not going to speak for the Church, but these are the reasons why such conferences are held so that you listen to voices from the pew,” said Obiageli.
(Fr. Paul Samasumo, Vatican Radio)
Email: engafrica@vatiradio.va
Listen to Obiageli Nzenwa speaking to Fr. Paul Samasumo (09.22 mins)
IMAGE: CNS photo/Mohamed Abd El Ghany, ReutersBy Carol GlatzVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Praying that God wouldprotect Egypt from all evil, Pope Francis told the nation's people that a worldtorn apart by indiscriminate violence needs courageous builders of peace,dialogue and justice."I hope that this visit will be an embraceof consolation and of encouragement to all Christians in the Middle East; amessage of friendship and esteem to all inhabitants of Egypt and the region; amessage of fraternity and reconciliation to all children of Abraham,particularly in the Islamic world," the pope said in a video messagebroadcast April 25, ahead of his April 28-29 trip to Cairo."I hope that it may also offer a validcontribution to interreligious dialogue with the Islamic world and toecumenical dialogue with the venerated and beloved Coptic OrthodoxChurch," he said.The pope thanked all those who invited himto Egypt, those who were working to make the trip possible and those "whomake space for me in you...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Mohamed Abd El Ghany, Reuters
By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Praying that God would protect Egypt from all evil, Pope Francis told the nation's people that a world torn apart by indiscriminate violence needs courageous builders of peace, dialogue and justice.
"I hope that this visit will be an embrace of consolation and of encouragement to all Christians in the Middle East; a message of friendship and esteem to all inhabitants of Egypt and the region; a message of fraternity and reconciliation to all children of Abraham, particularly in the Islamic world," the pope said in a video message broadcast April 25, ahead of his April 28-29 trip to Cairo.
"I hope that it may also offer a valid contribution to interreligious dialogue with the Islamic world and to ecumenical dialogue with the venerated and beloved Coptic Orthodox Church," he said.
The pope thanked all those who invited him to Egypt, those who were working to make the trip possible and those "who make space for me in your hearts."
He said he was "truly happy to come as a friend, as a messenger of peace and as a pilgrim to the country that gave, more than 2,000 years ago, refuge and hospitality to the Holy Family fleeing from the threats of King Herod."
"Our world, torn by blind violence, which has also afflicted the heart of your dear land, needs peace, love and mercy; it needs workers for peace, free and liberating people, courageous people able to learn from the past to build a future without closing themselves up in prejudices; it needs builders of bridges of peace, dialogue, brotherhood, justice, and humanity," he said.
Honored to visit the land visited by the Holy Family, the pope asked everyone for their prayers as he assured every one of his.
"Dear Egyptian brothers and sisters, young and elderly, women and men, Muslims and Christians, rich and poor ... I embrace you warmly and ask God almighty to bless you and protect your country from every evil."
He said it was "with a joyful and grateful heart" that he was heading to Egypt -- the "cradle of civilization, gift of the Nile, land of sun and hospitality, where patriarchs and prophets lived" and where God -- benevolent, merciful, and the one and almighty -- made his voice heard.
The day the video was released, April 25, was also the feast day of St. Mark, who evangelized the Egyptian port city of Alexandria, Egypt, before being martyred there.
Pope Francis dedicated his morning Mass to "my brother Tawadros II, patriarch of Alexandria" of the Coptic Orthodox church, asking that God abundantly "bless our two churches."
In Egypt, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said Egypt would welcome the pope and "looks forward to this significant visit to strengthen peace, tolerance and interfaith dialogue as well as to reject the abhorrent acts of terrorism and extremism."
Christians in Egypt, Syria and Iraq struggle with mounting pressures from extremists challenging their religious identity and the right to practice their faith and continue to exist in their ancestral homelands.
Pope Francis has urged an end to what he called a "genocide" against Christians in the Middle East, but he also has said it was wrong to equate Islam with violence.
Christians are among the oldest religious communities in the Middle East, but their numbers are dwindling in the face of conflict and persecution. Egypt's Christian community makes up about 10 percent of the country's 92 million people.
A high point in the pope's schedule is an international peace conference at Cairo's al-Azhar University, the world's highest authority on Sunni Islam, hosted by Sheik Ahmad el-Tayeb, grand imam of the educational institution.
Pope Tawadros and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual head of the Eastern Orthodox churches, are also expected to participate.
The pope will also meet separately with el-Sissi and other officials. Observers will be watching whether the pope will take on thorny issues with his hosts, such as the detention of thousands of Egyptians, without due process, simply held on suspicion of opposing el-Sissi.
Others will watch to see if Pope Francis prods the Sunni Muslim religious establishment to take a more forceful stand on religious extremism perpetrated in the name of God.
Many hope the al-Azhar meeting will sound a moral wake-up call to leaders worldwide to combat religious intolerance while seeking greater cooperation to fight growing threats by Islamic State and other extremist groups.
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Contributing to this story was Dale Gavlak in Amman, Jordan.
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