Canada has an honoured visitor this month.
His Holiness Pope Tawadros II (Theodore II), the spiritual leader to the global Coptic Orthodox community arrived in Canada on September 3, for a 30-day tour of Canada.
He was greeted by Jason Kenney, Minister for Multiculturalism, and Andrew Bennett, Canada’s Ambassador for Religious Freedom.
There are about 10-14 million Coptic Christians world wide, but the vast majority, perhaps 12 million, are in Egypt. There are about 50-thousand Coptic Orthodox in Canada, spread out across the entire country. Copts began to immigrate to Canada in around the 1950s, with larger numbers coming in the 1970s to escape discrimination in their Egyptian homeland.
“His Holiness is visiting one of the most vibrant Coptic communities in the world, here in Canada. Canada’s growing Coptic Christian community has been a model of successful integration and reflects the very best of our country’s pluralism. We are deeply honoured that His Holiness has dedicated a full month to visit communities across our great country, and I look forward to discussing matters of shared concern with him, including the plight of persecuted faith communities throughout the Middle East.” Jason Kenney, Minister for Multiculturalism
His Holiness first trip to Canada includes visiting and consecrating churches across Canada, meeting with religious leaders, giving a lecture at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and visiting the Egyptian Embassy in Ottawa.
One of the highlights of the trip so far was a meeting with Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper, which took place at St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Markham, near Toronto.
St. Mark’s Church was originally built in 1974, with a new Cathedral complete this year to serve a growing Coptic community.
This past weekend he consecrated St. Philopater’s Coptic Orthodox Church church in Guelph Ontario, which had been completed in 2011.
“I had a very productive discussion with His Holiness Pope Tawadros II during which we spoke about concerns of Coptic Christians in Egypt. Canada continues to call for greater freedom for minorities to worship in peace and we remain dedicated to defending religious freedoms around the world.” – Prime Minister Stephen Harper –
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.