EGYPT - Controversy on the Joint Declaration of Pope Francis and Pope Tawadros.

EGYPT - Controversy on the Joint Declaration of Pope Francis and Pope Tawadros. (FIDES).

Cairo (Agenzia Fides) - The Joint Declaration signed on Friday 28 April in Cairo by Pope Francis and Catholic Orthodox Patriarch Tawadros is causing various kinds of reactions within the Orthodox Coptic Church.

In paragraph n. 11 of the text signed last Friday, on the occasion of the visit of the Bishop of Rome to Egypt, the Pope and the Patriarch stated that they: 

"will seek sincerely not to repeat the baptism that has been administered in either of our Churches for any person who wishes to join the other, in obedience to the Holy Scriptures and the faith of the three Ecumenical Councils assembled in Nicaea, Constantinople and Ephesus". 

This passage, signed by Pope Tawadros on behalf of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Coptic Church, expresses the concrete intention of overcoming the practice of so-called "re-baptism", still administered today by some Christian communities to new faithful coming from other ecclesial confessions.

After the release of the Declaration, blogs and social media began criticising Pope Tawadros, accused by some Coptic exponents of wanting to subdue the Orthodox Coptic Church to the Catholic Church.

Already on Saturday, the Coptic Information Center issued a statement to clarify that the Declaration signed by Pope Francis and Pope Tawadros does not contain a formal agreement on the question of re-baptisms, and is to be interpreted in continuity with the path of theological dialogue that began between the Orthodox Coptic Church and the Catholic Church with the visit that Patriarch Shenuda III made in Rome in 1973 to meet Pope Paul VI.

"All Egyptians, whether Christian or Muslim, were happy and surprised at the visit of Pope Francis to Egypt", reports to Agenzia Fides Anba Boutros Fahim Awad Hanna, Coptic Catholic Bishop of Minya.

"For this reason", adds Anba Boulos, "in the ecclesiastical controversies that are mounting on social media, I see that the devil is trying to ruin the positive atmosphere the Pope left in the Country.

The Declaration is clear and represents an important step towards the future. Pope Tawadros signed it with the consent of the Holy Synod of his Church. Criticism was predictable. Now it is important to move on together, in the path indicated by Pope Francis and Pope Tawadros". (GV) (Agenzia Fides 2/5/2017)

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'Et tu, Papam' - Vatican to digitalize manuscripts relating to Persian Gulf and other Islamic regions.

'Et Tu Papam' - Vatican to digitalize manuscripts relating to Persian Gulf and other Islamic regions.(DS).

The Vatican has signed an agreement with Qatar to digitalize Vatican manuscripts relating to the Persian Gulf and other Islamic regions.

The agreement was signed Saturday following a private papal audience with Sheika Mozah bint Nasser, the president of the Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development. The documents are among 8,000 manuscripts in the Vatican Library that are part of a digitalization project.

The Vatican said the sheika met with Pope Francis for 30 minutes, informing him of "the grave situation of schools in the various areas of conflict."

She gave the pope a decorated Arabic manuscript of the Gospels produced in 18th Century Ottoman Turkey, while the pope gave her a medallion depicting the olive tree of peace and an Arabic edition of his encyclical on the environment. Hmmmm.....Rewriting History a favorite pastime of Islamists....'Et Tu Papam'.

Pope Francis accepts invitation to visit Pakistan.

Pope Francis accepts invitation to visit Pakistan. (AN).

The Pakistani government has invited Pope Francis to visit the country and the pope has accepted, this according to a government press release that also noted that the pontiff prayed for “Pakistan and the victims of terrorism”.

Some Pakistani political leaders spoke to AsiaNews confirming the report, but the bishop of Faisalabad warned that it is not likely to happen this year.

Pakistan's Religious Affairs Minister Sardar Yusuf and the Minister of Ports and Shipping Kamran Michael passed on the invitation during a meeting with the pope in Rome. On that occasion, Francis offered special prayers for Pakistan and its people. Pakistani media welcomed the visit.

Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, a Member of the National Assembly and head of the Pakistan Hindu Council, confirmed the news with AsiaNews.

"We welcome the Catholic spiritual leader,” he said. “This is a good omen for our country. The pope himself has mentioned the news about his visit. The security situation is now favorable”.

Still, Bishop Joseph Arshad of Faisalabad believes that it is hard to say whether Pakistan’s Christian minority will see the Holy Father in person this year.

"Usually a team from the Vatican starts visiting the destination country a year ahead,” said the Bishop Arshad who served for 14 years in the diplomatic service of the Holy See.

“There are lots of arrangements before the arrival of the pontiff.  We have not received any written information from Rome", he added.


Still, "If he comes, it will be a great encouragement and show of solidarity to Pakistan where people have been facing terrorism for years." Read the full story here.

GOP rep who skipped pope’s speech: "Pope should focus less on climate change, more on fighting religious extremism, abortion and other issues".

GOP rep who skipped pope’s speech: "Pope should focus less on climate change, more on fighting religious extremism, abortion and other issues". (TheHill).

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) said he has no regrets about skipping Pope Francis’s speech Thursday, even though the pontiff spoke little about climate change.

Gosar announced last week that he would boycott the speech over his expectation that Francis would focus heavily on climate change and press Congress to take action, something that Gosar disagrees with strongly.

But Gosar, a Roman Catholic, said skipping the speech got across his point, which is that Francis shouldn’t be putting so much of his energy into climate change, and should focus more on fighting religious extremism, abortion and other issues. “I think I made my point, and I think the point needed to be made,” Gosar said hours after Francis gave his speech, adding that he at no point wished he were in the House chamber.

The Arizona Republican and former dentist watched the speech instead from his office in the Cannon House Office Building, just across the street from the Capitol where Francis spoke.

Gosar complained that the speech “lacked a lot of details,” though he agreed with Francis’s emphasis on the importance of families.

“He was very specific about climate change, a lot more dynamic on that regard than in right to life,” Gosar said. “He made one sentence and then transitioned it right into trying to advocate against the death penalty.”

On Friday, Gosar wrote that Francis could speak against violent Islam or persecution of Christians.

“But when the Pope chooses to act and talk like a leftist politician, then he can expect to be treated like one,” he said.

“Climate change is subjective. And when you have a pope putting out an encyclical and then challenging Catholics, that ‘if you disagree with me you’re wrong,’ I have problems with that. Especially a man of science, and I’m a man of science, and we can debate that all day.” Hmmmm......At least one man with guts and integrety in the whole crowd.