His Holiness Pope Tawadros II Receives an Honorary Doctorate from Pázmány Péter University in Hungary
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His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, received on Monday 21 August 2023, an honorary doctorate degree from the Catholic University of Pazmany Peter, in a grand ceremony at the university's headquarters in Budapest.
Professor Toshka Laszlo, Professor of Arabic Language at the University of Budapest, delivered the university’s speech, during which he spoke about the journey of His Holiness Pope Tawadros II from his birth until now. He referred to the political events that Egypt had gone through since 2011, focusing on the events of the June 30, 2013 revolution and the meeting on July 3, in which His Holiness Pope Tawadros II participated, along with army leaders, Sheikh Al-Azhar and intellectuals.
Professor Toshka addressed the sacrifices made by His Holiness and the Coptic Orthodox Church over the past years, then summarized the utterance of granting His Holiness an honorary doctorate, saying:
“Through his work in Christian education and social development, he took responsibility for the service of all humanity. Therefore, as we are aware with pleasure and gratitude of the impact of this work on the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church, we consider it an honour for us to celebrate the Pope of Alexandria and the Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, and we are honoured to accept Pope Tawadros II among the doctors honoraries of Bazman Peter University”.
In his speech delivered at the ceremony, His Holiness Pope Tawadros II expressed his pleausre in receiving this honorary doctorate in an ancient and prestigious university, which was established hundreds of years ago and has a long history in studies, sciences, theology, rights and humanities, and plays a great role in advancing young students from all over the world and looking at development at all levels.
His Holiness added: I would like to talk about my homeland, Egypt, as it is a unique homeland with a civilization that extends back to seven thousand years, and they say that Egypt came, and then history came after it.
His Holiness Pope Tawadros II referred to the construction of the New Administrative Capital to become the most prestigious smart city and includes the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ, which is the largest in the Middle East region and was inaugurated in 2019. He also referred to the construction of the Grand Egyptian Museum, which is the largest cultural museum to display the ancient Egyptian civilization, inviting those present to visit the museum after its opening during the next few months.
It is noteworthy that the university was founded by Cardinal Peter Bazman in 1635, and it is one of the oldest institutions of Catholic education in Hungary and includes about 8 thousand students and seeks to enrich the daily life of the Catholic Church and provide the best of their knowledge and spiritual preparation for society.
The ceremony was attended by Mr. Chamyen Gault, Deputy Prime Minister of Hungary, a number of Hungarian officials, and the President and Council of the University.
The ceremony was also attended by the Egyptian Ambassador to Hungary, Ambassador Mohamed El-Shennawy, members of the embassy, and the church delegation accompanying His Holiness. They were joined by H.G. Bishop Angaelos, Bishop of London, H.G. Bishop Stephanos, Bishop of Beba, Fashn
H.G. Bishop Pavlos, Bishop of Greece, and H.G. Bishop Marc, Bishop of Paris and Northern France.
This news was originally published on the Facebook Page of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
