His Excellency Mr. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, received on May 17, 2022 at the Presidential Palace in Cairo the leaders of the Christian Churches participating in the 12th General Assembly of the Council of Churches of the Middle East.
The President enthusiastically welcomed the convening of the General Assembly of the Council of Churches of the Middle East as it is meeting for the first time in Egypt since its founding in 1968, emphasizing that the Christian brothers in all Arab countries are an integral part of the fabric of all Arab society.
The President also stressed that citizenship and equal rights for all are fixed values that represent the approach of the Egyptian state to all citizens without exception, something that the country applies through real and realistic practices in all aspects of life to maximize universal values of peace, love, non-discrimination for any reason and the spread of a culture of pluralism, faith and freedom, as well as the fight against fanaticism and extremism, stressing that this is the strategic direction of the Egyptian state without being linked to a specific time period.
Taking the floor, Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, expressed the joy of the participating Primates in the 12th General Assembly of the Middle East Council of Churches, for their honour in meeting His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi but also for their visit to God-walked and hospitable Egypt, noting its valuable contribution to the history of mankind and the pursuit of peace, as well as the importance of Egypt's role in the Middle East. He also referred to the stable relations of friendship in matters of good coexistence and social solidarity with the Primate of the Coptic Church, His Beatitude Mr. Tawadros II, stressed the sacrificial contribution over 20 centuries of the ancient Patriarchate being based in the Land of the Nile to all the African countries, while conveying the love and respect of the Orthodox peoples of Greece and Cyprus to the Land of the Nile and His Excellency Its President.
The same spirit was followed in the conversation of His Beatitude in a private joint meeting that he had earlier with His Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt Mr. Soukri and the Coptic Patriarch Tawadros II.
