Today (Thursday), H.H. Pope Tawadros II received at the Papal Residence in Cairo, Dr. Osama Al-Azhari, Minister of Endowments, and Dr. Ahmed Fouad Hanno, Minister of Culture, accompanied by two delegations from their ministries.

His Holiness welcomed them and the delegations of the two ministries. He spoke to them about the Coptic Orthodox Church and its history extending over two thousand years, its national role throughout its journey, and the series of popes extending from Saint Mark until now. Pope Tawadros highlighted that writing the biography of the Coptic patriarchs presents a multi-angle picture of the history of Egypt.

His Holiness pointed out that Egyptian society resembles the Karnak Temple, which consists of a group of columns. He explained that each column represents an important part of society: the army, the police, Al-Azhar, the Church, the culture, and so on. He stressed that strengthening each of these pillars contributes to strengthening society as a whole, while weakening any of them leads to a negative impact on society as a whole, as each pillar has an effective role, and therefore cannot be dispensed with.

Pope Tawadros presented the “Bridges of Peace” program, which was launched by the Coptic Church last week through the Pontifical Projects Office, with the aim of spreading awareness of the importance of peace and acceptance of others in all villages and governorates of Egypt in cooperation with a number of ministries. For his part, the Minister of Culture welcomed the ministry’s participation in the activities of the “Bridges of Peace” program.

While the Minister of Endowments pointed to the role of sermons in raising awareness. He expressed the ministry’s desire to cooperate with the church in the “Kamel Al-Zaghruta” initiative and other future initiatives.

During the meeting, coordination of efforts regarding the participation of the Coptic Church and the Ministry of Endowments in the activities of the Ministry of Culture was discussed, with the aim of raising awareness of human values ​​and constructive concepts, using various arts. This is through the activities carried out by the Ministry of Culture in the regions of Egypt.

His Holiness expressed the Church’s full readiness to participate in supporting all activities aimed at increasing awareness and building people and thus society.

At the end of the meeting, the Minister of Culture presented Pope Tawadros with a copy of the painting “The Nun,” which was painted by the late Egyptian artist Ahmed Sabry in 1929. It became known internationally as the “Egyptian Mona Lisa,” in which the artist painted a picture of a nun based on his observations of various people in Egyptian society.

For his part, His Holiness presented the book “One Hundred Coptic Figures on the Land of Egypt” to the Ministers of Culture and Endowments.

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