Pope Tawadros II, the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, received Thursday German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his accompanying delegation at the Papal Headquarters in Cairo on Thursday 12/9/2024.
This visit comes within the framework of President Steinmeier’s current visit to Egypt, which began yesterday.
During the reception, Pope Tawadros delivered a speech welcoming his guest and his companions, expressing “his happiness with their visit to the headquarters of the Coptic Orthodox Church, where spirituality is mixed with a long history and deep roots.”
‘The land of Egypt was blessed with the visit of the Holy Family two thousand years ago, and it holds a special place in the hearts of Christians all over the world,’ noted the pope.
Pope Tawadros praised the strong relations between Egypt and Germany and the fruitful cooperation between the two countries in several fields, most notably education.
The pope also praised ‘the good relationship between the Church and His Excellency President Abd
el-Fattah El-Sisi and the Egyptian government,” noting that “the Church always seeks to establish peace as a solid foundation on which relations between peoples are built.’
In his speech, the German President expressed his thanks to His Holiness the Pope for the warm welcome, adding: “It is an honour for me to meet with Your Holiness and to be here in the cathedral, as I have never had the opportunity to visit a large and important church like the Coptic Orthodox Church.”
“My visit to you is an honour for me on a personal level, and for me, it is one of the most important visits I have made to Egypt,” added the German president.
President Steinmeier praised the students of the German Saint Charbel School in Cairo, which he visited Wednesday, lauding “their proficiency in the German language and their distinguished ability to discuss and dialogue.”
The German president said he would call for expanding cooperation between the two countries in the field of education, especially technical education.
Source:
State Information Service Egypt
