The first day of His Holiness Pope Tawadros II’s visit to the Vatican witnessed the participation of His Holiness in the general audience that His Holiness Pope Francis holds weekly in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican.

The two Popes embraced the moment they met and sat on two identical chairs, surrounded by the church delegation accompanying His Holiness Pope Tawadros and a number of Vatican leaders.
While there were tens of thousands of followers in the arena, despite the rain and the unstable weather, which is usual at this time of the year in the Vatican, a state of joy was among the audience, and some Coptic melodies were sung before the start of the speech of His Holiness Pope Tawadros, who started his speech by saying in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in the Coptic language. Then H.H. congratulated H.H. Pope Francis on the anniversary of his selection to the papal chair, expressing his appreciation for the efforts made by the Pope in several fields. His Holiness emphasized that the Day of Brotherly Love embodies the Christian spirit and the love that unites us in the service of God.
H.H. referred to the historic meeting that brought together His Holiness Pope Shenouda III and His Holiness Pope Paul VI on this day 50 years ago, and His Holiness Pope Tawadros spoke about the Coptic Church that arose on the land of Egypt, thanks to the preaching of St. Mark the Apostle, which was visited by the Holy Family, and the Alexandria Theological College was established in it, and from it monasticism spread to the whole world. H.H. concluded by saying: We call all over the world for peace that exceeds every mind, praying for it to come to all over and for it to be the priority of leaders and peoples.
For his part, His Holiness Pope Francis greeted and thanked His Holiness Pope Tawadros for accepting his invitation to come to the Vatican to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the historic meeting between Pope Paul VI and Pope Shenouda III on May 10, 1973, referring to the joint Christological declaration that was signed during that meeting. H.H. also recalled his first meeting with His Holiness Pope Tawadros II on the same day ten years ago, with the suggestion of His Holiness Pope Tawadros to celebrate on this day every year the Day of Brotherly Love, which we have come to celebrate every year, and a telephone call takes place on this day between the two Popes.

His Holiness commended what His Holiness Pope Tawadros is doing in favor of the growing friendship between the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church.
H.H. concluded by recalling the Coptic martyrs who were killed in Libya years ago. Asking the audience to pray to God to guard the Coptic Orthodox Church and bless the visit of His Holiness Pope Tawadros II.
After the end of the two speeches, His Holiness Pope Francis asked His Holiness Pope Tawadros to go to bless the people present in St. Peter’s Square.
In the evening, H.H. and the church delegation accompanying him visited the Vatican Museum, which is a few meters away from the Santa Marta House, the residence of His Holiness in the Vatican City.
His Holiness and his companions toured the corridors of the museum and listened to a detailed explanation of its contents and the history of the artifacts in it, as it contains 70,000 paintings, sculptures, statues and other artifacts, of which 20,000 are on display. Among what His Holiness visited in the museum was the location of the statue of Apollo Belvedere, the first piece in the Vatican art collection even before the establishment of the Vatican Museums, and the Sala Rotunda room and the Borgia apartments, which consist of six rooms and were decorated by the Italian painter Pinturicchio and date back to the end of the 16th century AD, as well as the four Raphael rooms that are located directly above the Borgia apartments, and work was done in the first quarter of the 16th century.
At the end of his tour, His Holiness visited the Sistine Chapel, in which the artist Michelangelo painted nine scenes from the Book of Genesis on its roof, and another masterpiece by Michelangelo, which is the “Last Judgment” that covers the altar wall of the church.
The walls of the Sistine Chapel contain masterpieces by many Renaissance artists such as Sandro Botticelli, Pinturicchio, Pietro Perugino and Domenico Ghirlandaio.

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