508 Acta Apostolicae Sedis - Commentarium Officiale

IV

DECLARATIO COMMUNIS.*

COMMON DECLARATION OF HIS HOLINESS FRANCIS

AND HIS HOLINESS TAWADROS II

1. We, Francis, Bishop of Rome and Pope of the Catholic Church, and Ta-

wadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of Saint Mark, give

thanks to God in the Holy Spirit for granting us the joyful opportunity to

meet once more, to exchange a fraternal embrace and to join again in common

prayer. We glorify the Almighty for the bonds of fraternity and friendship ex-

isting between the See of Saint Peter and the See of Saint Mark. The privilege

of being together here in Egypt is a sign that the solidity of our relationship

is increasing year by year, and that we are growing in closeness, faith and love

of Christ our Lord. We give thanks to God for this beloved Egypt, the "home-

land that lives inside us," as His Holiness Pope Shenouda III used to say, the

"people blessed by God"1 with its ancient Pharaonic civilization, the Greek

and Roman heritage, the Coptic tradition and the Islamic presence. Egypt is

the place where the Holy Family found refuge, a land of martyrs and saints.

2. Our deep bond of friendship and fraternity has its origin in the full com-

munion that existed between our Churches in the first centuries and was

expressed in many different ways through the early Ecumenical Councils,

dating back to the Council of Nicaea in 325 and the contribution of the coura-

geous Church Father Saint Athanasius, who earned the title "Protector of the

Faith". Our communion was expressed through prayer and similar liturgical

practices, the veneration of the same martyrs and saints, and in the devel-

opment and spread of monasticism, following the example of the great Saint

Anthony, known as the Father of all monks.

This common experience of communion before the time of separation has

a special significance in our efforts to restore full communion today. Most

of the relations which existed in the early centuries between the Catholic

Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church have continued to the present day

* Die 29 Aprilis 2017. 1 Cf. Is 19:25.