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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
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CP/nhc/2012/07
Gregorios III: Shenouda III or the spiritual strength and pastoral outreach of Coptic monasticism
“We have lost a friend with whom we have been linked for very many years. As early as the 1960s, before his election to head his Church in 1971, the future Shenouda III was collaborating with our ecumenical review Al Wahdat fil Iman (Unity in Faith), bringing to it his ever lucid and deep vision.”
Just back from a fortnight’s round-trip of episcopal conferences and European seats of government, Gregorios III, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem left Beirut on Monday 19 March 2012 for Cairo to take part in the national funeral of Shenouda III thus expressing the attachment for and closeness of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church to the Coptic Orthodox Church.
“Shenouda III was the Patriarch of the biggest Orthodox Church of the Middle East, incarnating in his person all the history of his Church,” Gregorios III declared before hailing “the presence of the Coptic Church in the Arab world, its spiritual strength, its monasticism and its pastoral outreach that Shenouda III so perfectly incarnated. This Church, as Mgr Elias Zoghby, for a long time patriarchal vicar in Cairo, once said, is the only non-Catholic Church that has understood how to renew itself without ever losing sight of consistency with itself. We are very keen especially to welcome the various moves towards closer understanding especially in formulating the tricky but vital areas of doctrine to do with the Council of Chalcedon or indeed the Incarnation. A tangible sign of this increasing closeness between the Holy See and the Coptic Orthodox Church was the signing in Rome on 10 May 1973 of the Common Declaration of Faith in the Incarnation of the Son of God and the participation of Pope Paul VI in the building of St. Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo.
“Shenouda III was a Patriarch who was a very deep spiritual thinker but who knew how to make his thoughts accessible to everyone, through his memorable sermons and homilies, aided by a wit and sense of humour that were quite Pharaonic and Egyptian.”
Patriarch Gregorios III then recalled the celebrations of the Nativity of our Lord in Cairo according to the Coptic tradition, which he had never missed since his election to the Melkite Greek Catholic See of Antioch in 2000 and which had enabled him to be alongside Shenouda III, before joining his “prayer to that of the whole Coptic Orthodox Church for the repose of the soul of its late lamented shepherd and for the Holy Spirit to illumine hearts so that the designated successor might allow the Coptic Church to pursue its very special mission.”
Rabweh, 19 March 2012
Note: His Beatitude was accompanied on his visit to Cairo for Pope Shenouda’s funeral, by Archbishops Elias Shakour and George Bakar, and by the Patriarchal Chancellor, Archimandrite Tony Dib. On his first day in Cairo, Patriarch Gregorios III gave an interview of an hour’s duration to CTV on the subject of his friend and fellow-pastor, the late, great Pope Shenouda III.
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CP/2012/nhc/05
Gregorios III: Pilgrim for Peace and Reconciliation
On 7 and 8 March 2012, in the context of a European round-trip to the main episcopal conferences and seats of government, H. B. Gregorios III, Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem held significant conversations with Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris and Ordinary of France’s Eastern Catholics, with Mr Henri de Raincourt, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs responsible for Cooperation, and with the Vice-Presidents of the National Assembly and Senate. The Patriarch was accompanied by Mgr Georges Bacouni, Archbishop of Tyre.
A pilgrim for peace and reconciliation, Gregorios III had come to talk about his continuing concern to see peace and reconciliation reign in the Arab world and Syria in particular.
Furthermore, His Beatitude was received by Rev Charbel Maalouf B.C., priest of Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre, Paris’s Melkite Greek Catholic parish, and representative of His Beatitude in Paris, flanked by members of his Parish Council and community, for an overview of parish life and to see how far advanced were the preparations for the European Melkite Convention on 1, 2 and 3 November 2012 at Aubazine.
Rabweh, 8 March 2012
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Patriarch Gregorios III continued his pilgrimage in Italy, beginning with the Presanctified Liturgy at the Greek College, Rome on the Feast of Saint Benedict, 14 March. His Beatitude spoke a word of greeting to the College and congratulations to the Holy Father on his name-day.
On the following day, His Beatitude met with Andrea Riccardi, Minister for International Co-operation and Integration and founder of the Sant’Egidio Community and went on to give a press conference, explaining the purpose of his pilgrimage in the context of peace, living together and Christian presence in the Middle East. At midday for half an hour, His Beatitude met His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican, and speaking in German, talked to him about the role of Christians in the Middle East, the role of the Pope, of the Episcopal Conferences, of Vatican diplomacy, the role of local churches in the Middle East and especially in Syria. At 3.30p.m. His Beatitude received the recently withdrawn Italian Ambassador to Syria, Achille Amerio, who talked most amicably with him for an hour. His Beatitude was able to explain to him more about the situation in Syria.
On Friday, 16 March, Patriarch Gregorios III had meetings with the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Dominique Mamberti and Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, before serving the Akathist at the Greek College.
At the weekend, His Beatitude travelled to Piacenza, attending the panikhida for Virginio Foglietta, late Prior of the Patriarchal Order of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem.
On Sunday evening, His Beatitude returned to Beirut.
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Continuing his European round-trip of episcopal conferences and European political institutions, H. B. Gregorios III, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem began his talks in Great Britain by a meeting with H. G. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, H. G. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster and with a representative of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Afterwards, he gave a talk at Heythrop College, University of London. Among those present (c. 60 persons) Ukrainian and Coptic Orthodox bishops, university teachers, monks and nuns and lay-persons. Mr Anthony O’Mahony of Heythrop College introduced His Beatitude. After the talk, the Principal of the College, Michael Holman SJ invited the Patriarch to lunch. For all these meetings, the Patriarch was accompanied by Rev. Dr Shafiq Abouzayd, priest of the Melkite parish in London and Ms Valerie Chamberlain, liaison officer for the trip to the U.K.
On Sunday, 11 March, (the third Sunday in Lent) His Beatitude celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the parish church of St Barnabas, Pimlico meeting parishioners. In the afternoon, His Beatitude met the Lebanese ambassador to Britain, H. E. Inaam Osseiran at a meal offered by Father Shafiq and members of the parish council.
As in Berlin on 5 and 6 March and in Paris on 7 and 8 March 2012, Gregorios III emphasised the relationship between peace, living together and Christian presence in the Middle East, which is a reservoir of Christians and a cultural reservoir of the region. This region, and Syria especially, needs to regain its tranquillity, thanks to a dialogue among all the parties concerned. He asked European leaders and Church leaders to call for a cease-fire and dialogue and reconciliation.
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Gregorios III: “The foundations of hope for a real Arab Spring depend on inter-Muslim and Muslim-Christian unity.”
Rounding off his tour of Episcopal Conferences and Government Offices with the Vatican and Italy, H. B. Gregorios III, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, of Alexandria and Jerusalem was received by Pope Benedict XVI for half an hour on Thursday 15 March 2012. The meeting, which took place in the Holy Father’s office, focused on matters of ecclesial concern amid the crises of the Middle East and their consequences both from a regional and international perspective.
During the meeting, H. B. Gregorios III emphasised the need of dialogue for peace in Syria and in the Middle East, since only dialogue guarantees coexistence and knowing how to live together in this rapidly changing and very challenging region.
The Patriarch underlined that the role of Christians is to be peace-makers and bridge-builders for genuine dialogue among the Arab world’s sons and daughters for a better future.
Rabweh, 15 March 2012
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CWNews.com - The head of the Maronite Catholic Church has spoken with reporters about his fears that the “Arab Spring” is becoming a winter. “We are with the Arab Spring but we are not with this spring of violence, war, destruction and killing,” said Patriarch Béchara Boutros Raï, who has led the Eastern Catholic church since March 2011. “This is turning to winter … How can it be an Arab Spring when people are being killed every day? They speak of Iraq and democracy, and one million Christians out of an original 1.5 million have fled Iraq.”
Discussing the situation in Syria, he added:
Syria, like other countries, needs reforms which the people are demanding. It’s true that the Syrian Baath regime is an extreme and dictatorial regime but there are many others like it in the Arab world.
All regimes in the Arab world have Islam as a state religion, except for Syria. It stands out for not saying it is an Islamic state ... The closest thing to democracy (in the Arab world) is Syria.
We are not defending it. But we regret that Syria, which wants to take a step forward ... is undergoing this violence and destruction and (use of) power and weapons …
We do not speak out against any sect and we do not fear moderate Islam. We fear the extremists groups that use the language of violence.
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