Day of Friendship between Copts and Catholics

On the occasion of the 11th Day of Friendship between Copts and Catholics, celebrated every year on 10 May in memory of the historic meeting between Pope Paul VI and Pope Shenouda III on 10 May 1973, Pope Francis sent to His Holiness Tawadros II a letter expressing his joy regarding the spiritual ties existing between the See of St. Peter and the See of St. Mark.

The Holy Father recalled in particular the visit of Pope Tawadros in 2023 and thanked him for the gift of the relics of the 21 Coptic Martyrs of Libya, now included in the Roman Martyrology, declaring that ‘their blood is a seed of unity for all the followers of Christ and I entrust to their intercession our ongoing pilgrimage of Christian friendship, especially the theological dialogue which has borne much good fruits in the relations between our Churches for more than five decades’.

Pope Tawadros also sent Pope Francis a letter for the celebration of this Day, in which he declares that “our friendship has been and will continue to be a message to all Christians to grow closer in Christ”. His Holiness Tawadros also states that ‘the loving relationship between our two Churches is flourishing day by day, and the existing dialogue between us will continue and further strengthen”.

On this anniversary, on Sunday 12 May 2024, Fr. Hyacinthe Destivelle, DPUC Official in charge of relations with the Oiental Orthodox Churches, visited the Coptic Orthodox Church of St. George in Rome. After the reading of the letters of Pope Francis and Pope Tawadros, he congratulated His Excellency Barnabas El Soryani, Coptic Orthodox Bishop of Turin and Rome, and his community.

Among the many guests, H.E. Mgr. Antonios Aziz Mina, Coptic Catholic Bishop Emeritus of Giza, and H.E. Mr. Mahmoud Talaat, Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to the Holy See, also participated in the celebration.