Today (Friday), H.H. Pope Tawadros II witnessed the graduation ceremony of the eighth cohort of the Ecumenical Institute for the Middle East, at the Papal Residence in Cairo. This was in addition to the conclusion of the intensive course for the ninth cohort. The event was also attended by H.G. Bishop Yolyos, General Bishop of Old Cairo and Bishop of Public, Ecumenical, Social Services, His Eminence Archbishop Samy Fawzy, Head of the Episcopal Church in Egypt, His Grace Archimandrite Damaskinos Al-Azrai, Abbot of the Greek Orthodox Monastery of Saint George in Old Cairo, and Dr. Reverend Refaat Fikry, Associate Secretary of the Middle East Council of Churches for the entire Evangelical Family, representing the leadership of the Evangelical denomination in Egypt.

Pope Tawadros delivered a speech in which he highlighted that the topic of ecumenism is an interesting one, and is growing in all Churches.

Several speeches were also delivered by H.G. Bishop Yolyos, General Bishop of Old Cairo and Bishop of Public, Ecumenical, Social Services, Dr Zahi Aazer, Director of the Institute, Reverend Dr. Kamil William Saman, Professor of the Holy Bible at Catholic Theological Colleges, Mrs. Elsy Wakil, Executive Director of the Institute. The ceremony was presented by Nora Edward, the institute’s media officer.

It is worth noting that the activities of the Ninth Cohort of the Ecumenical Institute for the Middle East were held for the second time in Egypt at the House of Anaphora for two weeks, hosted by H.E. Metropolitan Thomas, Metropolitan Qusiya and Mir. They had been held in Lebanon since 2015 and in Egypt since last year. The activities of the ninth session happened on the evening of Monday 9th September 2024. Twenty students come from five Arab countries: Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Sudan. The work of this session extended for two weeks and concluded today.

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