His Holiness Pope Tawadros II Prays the Eve of the Light Sunday in the Diocese of Turin and Rome in the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome
His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, began his Pastoral visit to the diocese of Turin and Rome this evening with a Prayer on the eve of the fourth Sunday of Holy Pentecost in the Basilica of Saint John in the Lateran in Rome.
The evening Prayer witnessed a large popular presence from the people of the diocese, and the sides of the cathedral were filled with them. After the evening Prayer, His Grace Bishop Bernaba, Bishop of Turin and Rome, delivered a speech of thanks in which he thanked His Holiness the Pope, expressing his welcome for His Holiness’ visit, and described: There are people who are made by history, and there are people who make history, and His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, since his enthronement on the See of St. Mark, makes history and wanders doing good, love and peace, until he was named “the Pope of Love.”
He pointed out: “History will remember that His Holiness was the first Pope of Alexandria to participate in the Pope of Rome’s meeting on Wednesday in St. Peter’s Square, which is the Pope’s meeting with the congregation.
Also, history will remember that His Holiness was the first Pope to pray in this Basilica, and it is one of the four papal churches in which only the Popes of the Vatican pray, but because His Holiness Pope Francis steps with our father, His Holiness Pope Tawadros, in the footsteps of love and strives towards it, His Holiness allowed us to pray in for its large area, which is a sign of love, with work and truth, in appreciation of our church and His Holiness Pope Tawadros. Then His Holiness the Pope commented on his visit to the Vatican, expressing his happiness at meeting his children , and added: “We came here on a loving visit to His Holiness Pope Francis, Pope of the Vatican, to celebrate together the fifty years since the start of the official dialogue between the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church, after a severance of 15 centuries after the Council of Chalcedon in 451, after the Christian church in the whole world remained one church for nearly five centuries, until this council came and the schism occurred between East and West, which affected the explanation of the Christian faith. On the subject of unity, His Holiness said: The path of unity is a long path, and I see that it proceeds with several steps, as it is a path that resembles a cross: First, building strong relationships of love through visits and some joint activities. The second step: study, that is, we study history and beliefs.
The third step is dialogue, which is theological or popular dialogue at the level of the servants and the people. Finally, Prayer, because it performs miracles, and through it we are one in Christ. These steps take a long time, and we believe that the Holy Spirit works in our midst to complete this journey. Then His Holiness began his sermon, during which he put a question in front of the attendees , which is: Do you make Christ happy?
His Holiness gave an answer to the question through what was said about Christ in the Gospel of Matthew:
“Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He will declare justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel nor cry out, Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench, Till He sends forth justice to victory;” (Matthew 12:18-20)…
This news was originally published on the Coptic Orthodox Church website. Please click here to read the full text.
