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Coptic Patriarch to offer Orthodox Divine Liturgy in St. John Lateran Basilica

April 21, 2023 Catholic News Agency 3
Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II holds the Christmas Eve Mass at the Nativity of Christ Cathedral in Egypt’s administrative capital, on Jan. 6, 2023, in Cairo, Egypt. / Islam Safwat/Getty Images

Rome Newsroom, Apr 21, 2023 / 09:25 am (CNA).

The head of the Coptic Church is scheduled to offer the Orthodox Divine Liturgy in the Catholic Archbasilica of St. John Lateran in Rome on May 14.

According to Father Martin Browne, an official at the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, this liturgy will take place in the context of an official visit of Coptic Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria to the Vatican and “has been arranged following appropriate consultation.”

In comments to the National Catholic Register on April 21, Browne drew a distinction between the Orthodox liturgy scheduled for May and the unapproved Anglican service that took place this week in the same basilica.

The Catholic Church recognizes the Orthodox Church’s sacraments as valid, even if still in schism, while the Church does not recognize Anglican orders as valid, which means they cannot validly celebrate Mass.

“Pope Tawadros will celebrate at a specially constructed altar and not the main altar of the basilica,” Browne said, noting that the Anglican service also did not take place at the main altar.

“The liturgy will be for the Coptic faithful in Italy, which again gives it a different character to one involving solely pilgrim clergy,” he added.

Pope Tawadros II, who has led the Coptic Church since 2012, will visit Rome from May 9–14 and will appear beside Pope Francis at the general audience on Wednesday, May 10, where he will speak, according to a report by Aleteia.

Browne underlined that “the context of his visit is very particular — the 50th anniversary of the first meeting of the heads of the Churches of Rome and Alexandria after a millennium and a half of estrangement.”

The Coptic Orthodox Church based in Egypt is an Oriental Orthodox Church, meaning it rejected the 451 Council of Chalcedon, and its followers were historically considered monophysites — those who believe Christ has only one nature — by Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox.

In 1973, Pope Paul VI made history when he invited Coptic Patriarch Shenouda to Rome and the two signed a joint declaration acknowledging their shared faith in Jesus Christ, “perfect God with respect to his divinity, perfect man with respect to his humanity.”

Pope Francis’ meeting with Tawadros II in 2013 marked the first visit of a Coptic Orthodox patriarch to Rome in 40 years. Francis also met with Tawadros II during a visit to Cairo in 2017.

“The visit of their patriarch is a very important event for Coptic Christians in Italy and very many of the faithful are expected to come to the liturgy,” Browne told the Register.

“Up to 3,000 are expected to come, which is far more than could be accommodated in Pope Tawadros’ own church in Rome. Thus, the opportunity to celebrate in the Lateran Basilica is precisely the kind of practical sharing of ‘Resources for Spiritual Life and Activity’ provided for in the Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism.”

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Pope Francis announces ecumenical prayer service, reflects on St. John the Baptist’s ‘spirit of service’

January 15, 2023 Catholic News Agency 0
Pope Francis delivers his Angelus address in St. Peter’s Square on Jan. 15, 2023. / Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jan 15, 2023 / 06:17 am (CNA).

In his Angelus address on Sunday, Pope Francis encouraged Christians to cultivate the virtue of knowing “how to step aside” in order to bear witness to Jesus, as St. John the Baptist did.

The pope also announced that an ecumenical prayer vigil will take place in St. Peter’s Square as part of the Church’s ongoing Synod on Synodality.

Speaking from the window of the Apostolic Palace on Jan. 15, the pope shared lessons from St. John the Baptist’s “spirit of service.”

Pope Francis said that St. John was “not interested in having a following for himself, in gaining prestige and success, but he bears witness and then steps back, so that many may have the joy of meeting Jesus.”

He reflected on St. John’s words after baptizing Jesus in the Jordan River: “‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.” (John 1: 29-30).

“This declaration, this testimony, reveals John’s spirit of service,” the pope said. “Humanly speaking, one would think that he would be given a ‘prize,’ a prominent place in Jesus’ public life. But no. John, having accomplished his mission, knows how to step aside, he withdraws from the scene to make way for Jesus.”

In this way, St. John the Baptist teaches “freedom from attachments” and “gratuitousness, taking care of others without benefit for oneself,” he said.

“Because it is easy to become attached to roles and positions, to the need to be esteemed, recognized and rewarded,” the pope reflected.

“It is good for us, too, to cultivate, like John, the virtue of setting ourselves aside at the right moment, bearing witness that the point of reference of life is Jesus.”

The crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square to hear Pope Francis deliver his Angelus address on Jan. 15, 2023. Vatican Media
The crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square to hear Pope Francis deliver his Angelus address on Jan. 15, 2023. Vatican Media

Pope Francis recommended self-reflection on the following questions: “Do we attract others to Jesus, or to ourselves? And furthermore, following the example of John: Do we know how to rejoice in the fact that people take their own path and follow their calling, even if this entails some detachment from us? Do we rejoice in their achievements with sincerity and without envy?”

At the end of his general audience, Pope Francis announced that an ecumenical prayer vigil will take place in St. Peter’s Square on Sept. 30, 2023, as part of the Church’s ongoing Synod on Synodality.

The ecumenical prayer vigil, organized by the Taizé Community, will “entrust to God the work of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops,” set to take place in two sessions from Oct. 4 to 29, 2023, and in October 2024.

“Starting now, I invite our brothers and sisters of all Christian denominations to participate in this gathering of the People of God,” the pope said.

Pope Francis also highlighted the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which will begin this week on Jan. 18, noting that the “path to Christian unity and the Church’s journey to synodal conversion are linked.”

“We thank the Lord who faithfully and patiently guides his people toward full communion, and we ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten and sustain us with his gifts,” he said.

The pope urged people “not to forget the martyred people of Ukraine, who are suffering so much” and to remain close to them with aid and prayers.

He also greeted pilgrims who traveled to Rome from across the globe. “May your visit to St. Peter’s tomb strengthen your faith and your witness,” he said.

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