VATICAN CITY: Coptic Orthodox leader Tawadros II arrives in Rome yesterday for a historic four-day visit to meet Pope Francis – a sign of growing rapprochement between the Vatican and the Orthodox world.
The meeting today will be the first between an Egyptian patriarch of Alexandria and a head of the Roman Catholic Church since 1973 when pope Paul VI met with Tawadros’ predecessor Shenouda III.
The visit will be the high-point of a tour of Europe by Tawadros, who was elected in November 2012 as leader of a Christian Church faced with the rise of radical Islam and growing emigration.
Copts account for up to 10 per cent of the population in Egypt, where tensions and clashes with the majority Muslim population have increased since the fall of Hosni Mubarak’s regime in 2011.
Tawadros will stay until Sunday and visit various Vatican departments including one dealing with the Eastern Christian churches and another charged with promoting greater Christian unity.
The Vatican said he would also visit the tombs of Saints Peter and Paul and meet with members of the Coptic community in Rome.
The visit is only the latest sign of growing dialogue after the patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew, became the first Orthodox spiritual leader to attend a papal inauguration in March.
The Catholic and Orthodox churches separated in 1054.
Francis, formerly the archbishop of Buenos Aires Jorge Bergoglio, has indicated he wants to promote greater dialogue with other Christian denominations as well as with Jews and Muslims.
Francis’ predecessor Benedict XVI committed a series of gaffes on inter-religious relations early in his pontificate and his attempts at boosting dialogue were seen as unsuccessful.
Benedict’s comments in support of Copts following an outbreak of violence in Egypt were criticised by Sunni Muslim leaders in Cairo, who suspended dialogue with the Vatican in retaliation. — AFP