His Holiness Pope Tawadros II participated today, on Monday, in the International Conference organized by The League of Arab States at its headquarters in Cairo, with the Global Council for Tolerance and Peace, which started its work today and for a period of two days.
The conference discusses the topic “Tolerance, Peace and Sustainable Development in the Arab World”.
His Holiness Pope Tawadros II delivered a speech at the opening of the conference entitles “Forgiving in Christianity and its Role in the Consolidation of the Foundations of the Peace of the Community”.
His Holiness expressed his appreciation to The Arab League for sponsoring this conference. His Holiness pointed out that the ability to forgive comes from the inner satisfaction of man and his relationship with God and that the one who forgives is the one who has an inner will to forgive and tolerate.
His Holiness pointed out five principles for forgiveness and tolerance:
1. Forgiving is a necessity, not a choice
He referred to The Lord’s Prayer that Christians pray multiple times a day which says: “And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.” (Luke 11:4)
Also, The Lord’s reply to Peter: “Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” (Matthew 18 21-22)
2. Forgiveness is a belief
Christianity believes that God is the only Judge, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. (Matthew 7:1-2)
3. A real opportunity to the other
A person should stop hatred before it begins, as the Lord Jesus says on the Sermon on the Mountain: “Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:9)
4. Self-control
The strong person is the one who has self-control. Referring to The Book of Proverbs which says: “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.” (Proverbs 16:32)
Also, in the 1st Hour Prayer that is prayed every day, Saint Paul says: “bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:2-3)
5. Forgiveness is mercy for humanity
As the Holy Bible says: “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32)
We need to teach the younger generation about forgiveness and tolerance.
His Holiness also spoke about three aspects of forgiveness:
1. “Love Never Fails” (1 Corinthians 13:8)
His Holiness mentioned the negative impact of media as it can steal time and causes dryness in the feelings and the solution to this is to have a relationship with God, “God is love” (1 John 4:8)
As the Lord urges us to love our brothers as He says: “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:3-5)
His Holiness gave an example about Nelson Mandela, the former South African President, who had spent many years in prison because he was defending his people, and when he came out of prison, he announced that he forgave everyone and said his famous saying: Courageous people do not fear forgiving.
His Holiness also gave an example from Egypt, which is “The Egyptian Family House” which was established with the goal of spreading love and forgiveness.
2. Peace-making
His Holiness said that it is hard but essential for us to have the courage to make peace
“Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:9)
His Holiness mentioned about the Committee of Peacemaker that was formed by the Coptic Church and he pointed out that it has a strong work in developing awareness and spreading the thought of forgiveness
3. Happiness
Offering love and living in peace generate happiness and being happy will bring peace to life. He added: the world is full of people and does not need more in terms of number as much as it needs people with the ability to change the world and to spread happiness in it. “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2)
His Holiness concluded by emphasising the necessity of creating societies that help spread peace and happiness and works for the benefit of contributing a better life. His Holiness mentioned the care provided by the Coptic Church to Sudanese refugees as it established a school for them as well as looking after all their aspects.
This page is also available in:
العربية
