H.H. Pope Tawadros II, during the first stop in Vatican City, was able to visit the Basilica of Saint Peter. His Holiness was escorted on the tour by Card. Kurt Koch, Prefect of the Dicaster for the Promotion of Christian Unity, from a Coptic Church delegation and some representatives of the Catholic Church.
His Holiness was received by the Vatican officials with utmost cordiality and affection. His Holiness then listened to the detailed explanation of the various parts of the Basilica of Saint Peter and was invited to go up with the entire delegation of the Coptic Church on the dome for a panoramic view from above.
H.H. Pope Tawadros resides in Santa Marta, Vatican house with 120 rooms and is usually intended to house important personalities. It is the same house in which His Holiness Pope Francis resides, who preferred to live here rather than move into the residence where the Popes of Rome usually live, on the third floor of the Apostolic Palace.
Tomorrow, May 10, the Coptic Church and the Catholic Church will celebrate the “Day of Brotherly Love”, coined by H.H. Pope Tawadros II on the occasion of his visit to the Vatican in 2013, which has since been a day to promote friendship and dialogue between the two Churches. Also, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the restoration of bilateral relations between the two Churches for the first time after fifteen centuries of disruption following the Council of Chalcedony in 451.
