His Holiness Tawadros II, the 118th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St Mark, during a visit to a Coptic Orthodox Church in Roseville, California, met with members of Incarnation Anglican Church.
On Friday, October 23rd, His Holiness Tawadros II, the 118th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St Mark, visited St Mary Coptic Orthodox Church in Roseville, California, as part of his first United States tour. Fr. Joshua Lickter, and several members of his mission, Incarnation Anglican Church, were invited to intend the standing room only event. Fr. Josh presented the Coptic Pope with a letter from his Bishop, the Right Reverend Todd Hunter, of the Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others, in the Anglican Church in North America.
The letter welcomed the Pope to the United States, celebrated the recent ecumenical dialogue between the Anglican and Coptic Churches, and honored the witness of the 21 Copts martyred by ISIS this past February. After receiving the letter, Pope Tawadros thanked Fr. Josh, and told him he was eager to see what future partnerships between our churches would look like.
Earlier this month, delegates from the Anglican-Oriental Orthodox International Commission met in Wales and published a mutually agreed upon statement concerning Christology, an issue which has separated Coptic Christians from the rest of the church since The Council of Chalcedon in 451AD. The statement, originally drafted by the commission at a meeting in Cairo last year, serves as a groundbreaking step in healing that 1500 year old church rift, and strengthening the relationship between Anglican and Coptic Churches around the world.