His Holiness Pope Tawadros II met at the Papal Residence in Cairo on Wednesday with members of the initiative “For Citizenship and Confronting Hate Speech”, led by its founders, Fr Emmanuel Al-Muharraqi, the representative of the Diocese of Rizka Deir Al-Muharraq, and Dr. Anwar Muhammad Othman, a teacher of doctrine and philosophy at Al-Azhar University.
His Holiness learned about the activities of the initiative and the experiences of its members, and expressed his admiration and appreciation for the diverse experiences that distinguish the members. Then H.H. presented an overview of the Coptic Church and its history, since the Annunciation of St. Mark the Apostle in Egypt in the first century AD, then the series of popes began and continued until the present time with the current pope, who is number 118 in the series of popes.
H.H. pointed out that the church is one of the components of society, which can be likened to a temple in that the columns that support it represent the entities that make up society, including the Coptic Church. Just as a column cannot be taken away, any of these components cannot be missing, including the church.
His Holiness mentioned the words of the late Egyptian scholar Gamal Hamdan: “Egypt, the homeland, is a desert of nature. Its father is history and its mother is geography, and it has not been divided or merged.” Also, Egypt, by the fact that it takes the form of an equilateral square, gives it a balanced view of the whole in all directions.
His Holiness also referred to the seven layers of civilizations accumulated in Egyptian consciousness, indicating that there are words from the ancient Egyptian language that we still use in our language until now, which means that the layers of civilization build each other.
H.H. talked about the colors of the Egyptian flag, which represent all Egyptians, as the red color indicates the inhabitants of the Red Sea region, the white indicates the inhabitants of the Mediterranean region, while the black color indicates the inhabitants of the Delta and the Nile Valley, where the soil is fertile, and yellow, which is the color of the eagle, indicates the inhabitants of the desert regions.
Regarding the imprints of the Coptic Church on world history, His Holiness pointed to three basic imprints:
1- Theological education and its leadership at the global level.
2- The Christian testimony that was established by the era of the martyrs, and it is a testimony that continues until now.
3- Monasticism and monasteries: which started from the Coptic Church and spread throughout the world.
His Holiness the Pope commended the dialogue initiatives, noting that there are three types of cultures in this field:
1- The culture of dialogue: It is one of the reasons for the progress of societies and it makes the interlocutors rich. H.H. referred to the book of the late artist Youssef Wehbe, “I Lived 1,000 Years,” explaining that this title means that the man, with the experiences he acquired and the characters he assumed, is as if he lived 1,000 years.
2- The culture of quarrelling: It is a culture that adopts the confrontational approach adopted by some, and it is devoid of the principle of love because love is the ground from which all types of dialogue begin.
3- Wall culture: It tends not to accept hearing and listening to others, which is a culture that destroys societies
H.H. stressed that everyone who adopts principles that oppose dialogue is a person who lacks love, because a person’s true wealth is his love for others, as dialogue is the bridge through which we exchange ideas.
After the end of the speech of H.H., he conducted a dialogue with his guests and answered their questions. Memorial photos were taken, and each of them was presented with a souvenir.
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