Pope Tawadros II Received Lord Tariq Ahmad, UK Minister of State for the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and the United Nations

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Gerges Mounir Hanna – OCP News Service – 05/03/2023

Cairo – Egypt: Holiness Pope Tawadros II received Lord Tariq Ahmed, Minister of State for the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and the United Nations in the United Kingdom, and Ambassador Gareth Bailey, British Ambassador to Egypt, and their accompanying delegation at the Papal Residence in Cairo on April 05,2023.

During the meeting, His Holiness spoke about the history of Egypt and the ancient Egyptian civilization. H.H. also talked about the history of the Coptic Orthodox Church since the first century AD, which is the oldest Egyptian institution on the land of Egypt.
Nowadays, the church is spread all over the world, and H.H. pointed out that the first Coptic church established in Europe was in London.
For his part, the British minister referred to the effective role played by the Copts in the United Kingdom.
On the nature of the Egyptian people, His Holiness the Pope referred to the unique nature that was gained from the Nile River, where all Egyptians live around the river, so the Egyptians describe themselves as “children and of the Nile.”

His Holiness stressed that the Egyptians are currently in a state of unity and are working together to build our new Egypt, referring to the three most important challenges facing our country today, which are education, the economy and the media, and that any support for our country in the education side will have a great impact, and that we are all working to make our country an ideal example to the whole world in peaceful coexistence.
Regarding the role of the Church in society and in education in particular, His Holiness affirmed that the Church has a spiritual role as well as a social role, and establishes schools in Egypt that serve all Egyptians through the Papal Office for Projects.
About human rights, His Holiness indicated that Egypt is facing a large poverty rate and is working hard to meet basic needs first, and that the right to a decent life comes before anything else.

Source: Coptic Orthodox Church and OCP News Service