THE ALEXANDRIAN PATRIARCH’S JOURNEY OF LOVE IN KENYA

On 14th October 2014, His Beatitude Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa continued his journey of love through Kenya, accompanied as always by the local Metropolitan His Eminence Makarios, their first stop being the Parish of St Titus in the Moukoui village, where with deep emotion he venerated at the church built 30 years ago by Cretans, friends of the Missions, under the initiative of Father Dimitrios Kiniatjoui, the first African priest to study at the University of Athens. The Patriarch then went on to visit the adjacent High School and the Girls Orphanage, which were also built by Cretan donors and held discussions with the Director and the teachers, then gave the pupils some stationery. After that he visited the nursery school and gave the children sweets and icons.

Thereafter he visited the parishes of St Pantelelimon Keroua, St Seraphom of Sarov and the Boys’ High School, and the Transfiguration of the Saviour in Kamangou, with the adjacent clinics and high schools. All the teachers and pupils gave His Beatitude a warm welcome and sang and danced in traditional rhythms. Finally, His Beatitude visited the parish of St Raphael and conducted the memorial prayers at the grave of the late Bishop George Gadouna of Nitria, the first African Bishop of Kenya.
That eveing, Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa visited the home of the Ambassador of Egypt in Nairobi, Mr. Mahmoud Ali Talaat. Worth noting was the presence at the reception of all the Ambassadors of the Arabic Islamic countries, among which were Kuwait, Libya, Oman, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Sudan, Arabic Commonwealth, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Also present were the Kenyan Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ali Abass, the Apostolic Nuncio, the Ambassador of Greece, the representative of the Coptic Church and Arab businessmen. In his address the Ambassador of Egypt mentioned the presence of the representatives of Arabic countries and emphasized that especially today they need to collaborate with the Christian world to bring a halt to the terrorism of fanatic Islamists so that in this way peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims in the Middle East could continue.

His Beatitude expressed his joy on the presence of so many representatives of the Arabic world, and said that on this night God rejoices seeing Christians and Muslims in the same place together “because we are all His images” and stressed also among other things that Egypt is the portal of Africa, thanked President Sisi for facilitating his journey of love to the African countries and that he will continue to pray for the prevalence of peace, not only in the Middle East, but throughout the world. In conclusion he gave as a commemorative gift the crest of the Patriarchate to the Ambassador of Egypt.

Source: