AFRICA/EGYPT - Coptic Patriarch Tawadros II writes to Pope Francis: let us unify the dates for the Easter celebration

Wednesday, 7 May 2014

Cairo (Agenzia Fides) - The Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church Tawadros II sent a letter to Pope Francis, on the occasion of the first anniversary of their meeting at the Vatican, in which among other things invites the Bishop of Rome to find a single date for the Easter celebration in all Christian Churches. As Fides learns, the spokesman of the Coptic Orthodox Church has stated that the Patriarch’s letter addressed to Pope Francis was delivered to the Apostolic Nuncio to the Arab Republic of Egypt, His Exc. Mgr. Paul Gobel, received yesterday, Tuesday, May 6 at the headquarters of the Coptic Patriarchate. The papal representative in turn submitted to Patriarch Tawadros an invitation to send a representative of the Coptic Church to the next Assembly of the Synod of Catholic Bishops, to be held in October and dedicated to the theme of the family.

The unification of the dates of the Easter celebration of the Resurrection is a particularly felt urgency in North Africa and the Middle East, where in the same area Churches and Christian communities live together and each have different Easter dates due to the fact that some have the Julian calendar and others the Gregorian. (GV) (Agenzia Fides 07/05/2014)

Share: