Today at The Papal Residence in Cairo, His Holiness Pope Tawadros II received the Polish President Andrej Duda and his wife Agata Kornhauser Duda at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Abbasia.

His Holiness welcomed the president and his wife and the delegation accompanying them. In his speech, His Holiness pointed out that Egypt has a long history and rich civilizations, from the first Pharaonic, Coptic, Greek, Roman, Islamic, Arab and African civilizations.

Egypt, which was blessed by the visit of the Holy Family, which the Bible mentioned hundreds of times and said about it,
“Blessed be my people of Egypt.” For 3 years, the Holy Family blessed Egypt from its north to its south and from its east to its west, so that we, its people, retain this blessing so far in many places on our precious land.
His Holiness invited the President to visit the Coptic monasteries.

His Holiness also indicated in his speech that Poland is one of the world leaders in concern for humanitarian issues, such as rejecting abortion, and preserving and defending the environment, and that the Coptic Church always prays the rite of sanctifying rivers.

In conclusion, His Holiness welcomed them to Egypt, the land where Poland participated in saving its antiquities, when the antiquities of Nubia were saved, and which holds Warsaw, the capital of Poland, as a museum for its antiquities and the history of its church.
His Holiness concluded his speech by praying for world peace and the end of wars.

Wishing them to enjoy our beautiful country Egypt as well as the new republic with all its future hopes and achievements.

The Polish President thanked His Holiness for the reception and referred in his speech to his meeting with His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi,
where they discussed files related to the two countries and a number of issues. He added that he was happy that the schedule of his visit provided the opportunity to meet with His Holiness and the Bishops,

noting that he and most of the accompanying delegation belong to The Catholic Church, and to his happiness that Egypt has an atmosphere of tolerance and respect for beliefs.

Egypt is an important country for all Christians in the world because it is an evangelical land, and this is important in the Old and New Testaments.
Just as Egypt was a refuge for the Holy Family, the presence of the Copts here for thousands of years is important to all Christianity.
His Excellence referred to his recent meeting with Pope Francis and the Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew.
At the conclusion of his speech, His Excellence called for all of us to pray for the victims of the war.

Then they exchanged souvenirs and pictures, and with the delegation, they visited St. Mark’s Cathedral in Abbasia.

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