His Holiness Pope Tawadros II Praises the MECC 12th General Assembly During His Meeting with His Beatitude Patriarch Al-Rahi
His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, received His Beatitude Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi, Patriarch of Antioch and all the East for the Maronites, on Saturday, March 19, 2022, at the Papal Headquarters in Abbassiya, Egypt. His Holiness delivered a welcoming speech in which he stressed on the importance of the ecumenical event that the Church of the East will witness at the 12th General Assembly of the Middle East Council of Churches that will be held in Egypt from 16 to 20 May at the Papal Logos Center under the title of “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid” (Matthew 14:27).
His Holiness said, "I am really happy for your presence, Your Beatitude. On next May, the Middle East Council of Churches will hold its General Assembly, by the grace of Jesus Christ. It will be a meeting gathering all the Church Fathers in Egypt for the first time in the history of the Middle East Council of Churches."
His Holiness also stressed on the necessity of building bridges between all the Church families, especially in the Middle East, saying, "How great is our meeting today as brothers, and how great is the love between all our churches in the world. We live in the Middle East, in the region that gather religions, civilizations, cultures and history. In this region which is spiritually rich and filled with spiritual experiences we seek to bridge distances between our churches.”
Noting that His Beatitude Patriarch Al-Rahi begun his visit to Egypt heading a delegation in his meeting with His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, where a pontifical reception was held on the presence of bishops, priests, seminarians and believers.
