• About Us
  • AKIP
  • Live TV
  • Our Programs
  • Latest News
    • Church News
    • Politics
    • Foreign News
    • Security
  • Airtime
  • From GM’s Desk
  • Church of Nigeria
  • Contact
Facebook Twitter Instagram
  • AKIP
  • From GM’s Desk
  • Live TV
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Advent Cable Network Nigeria Advent Cable Network Nigeria
  • Home
  • About Us
  • AKIP
  • Latest News
    • Church News
    • Politics
    • Security
    • Foreign News
    • Sport
  • Live TV
  • Our Programs
  • Airtime
  • Church of Nigeria
  • Contact
Donate
Advent Cable Network Nigeria Advent Cable Network Nigeria
Home»Church»Patriarch Reverses Ban on Copts Traveling to Israel
Church

Patriarch Reverses Ban on Copts Traveling to Israel

ACNN TVBy ACNN TVJanuary 14, 2022No Comments3 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email WhatsApp
The new Pope Tawadros II leader of the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church looks on the enthronement ceremony, at the St. Mark Cathedral in Abbasiya, Cairo, Egypt, 18 November 2012. Pope Tawadros II the 118th pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church will lead the largest Christian community in the Middle East, thought to make up around 10 per cent of Egypt's Muslim-majority 90 million population. EPA/KHALED ELFIQI ** Usable by LA Only **
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email WhatsApp

The Coptic Christians of Egypt who go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem do not contravene any provision of the ecclesiastical authority.

The prescriptions laid down in the past by the leaders of the Coptic hierarchy, which in the historical context marked by the Arab-Israeli conflict had given instructions to its faithful not to go to the Holy City, are now obsolete and outdated by history. These are the considerations that Patriarch Tawadros wanted to repeat clearly during a television interview broadcast on January 7, on the occasion of the Coptic Christmas, with the clear intention of sweeping away the hesitations and controversies that continue to stop many Coptic Christians from going on pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

In the interview, Pope Tawadros recalled that the chronicles attest to the presence of a Coptic bishop in the Holy City since the 13th century and pointed out that the suspension of pilgrimages from Egypt has also contributed to reducing the presence of Copts in Holy Land. The Coptic Patriarch also recalled the repeated invitations to Jerusalem that Palestinian President Abu Mazen issued to Egyptians during his official visits to Egypt.

As early as 2016 (see Fides, 26/4/2016) it became clear that the bans on Coptic pilgrimages to the Holy Land were no longer justified and were no longer perceived by the Copts as binding. That year there was an exponential increase in Egyptian Coptic pilgrims who came to celebrate the rites of Holy Week in Jerusalem. This spontaneous influx of Coptic pilgrims to the Holy City marked the overcoming of the ban on visiting Jerusalem that had been imposed on its faithful by the then Patriarch Shenuda III in 1979.

In the years in which the Arab-Israeli conflict was radicalizing, Coptic Patriarch Shenuda III (1923-2012) had forbidden the faithful of his Church to make pilgrimages to the Jewish state and had not changed position even after the normalization of relations between Egypt and Israel. This ban was never formally lifted, but in 2014 the trip of about 90 Coptic Christians to the Holy Land during Holy Week had prompted several observers to emphasize the outdatedness of the disciplinary provision against pilgrimages in the context of the existing relations between the two neighboring countries.

The trip of Patriarch Tawadros II to Jerusalem to attend the funeral of Archbishop Abraham, the head of the local Coptic Orthodox community, in November 2015 certainly contributed to the further promotion of Coptic pilgrimages to the Holy Land. The patriarch’s trip, initially presented as an “exception” by the Coptic Orthodox Church, was understood by the Egyptian Copts as an eloquent sign that the new Patriarch had no intention of defending prohibitions penalizing the spiritual life of the faithful.

Coptic Orthodox Church
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email WhatsApp

Related Posts

Church of England to Debate Same-Sex Marriage Today

February 8, 2023

Quake Deaths Pass 5,000 as Turkey, Syria Seek Survivors

February 7, 2023

Update: Devastating Earthquake Kills Hundreds In Turkey/ Syria

February 6, 2023
Add A Comment

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Recent Posts

Supreme Court Restores Ahmad Lawan APC Senatorial Candidate Yobe North

February 6, 2023

INEC Further Extends PVC Collection Nationawide By One Week

January 28, 2023

Mega Churches, Schools Bar Old Naira Note Payment, Offering

January 27, 2023

Clergymen Protest Sealing Of Church By Abia Govt

January 27, 2023

Osun Guber: Adeleke Vows To Appeal Tribunal Jugdement

January 27, 2023
Advent Cable Network Nigeria

ACNNTV is the Televangelism arm of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) with focus to keep the orthodox faith alive through development of inspiring and life changing broadcast products.

Facebook Twitter Instagram
Quick Links
  • About Us
  • AKIP
  • Board of Management
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
Quick Links
  • Our Programs
  • Program Rates
  • From GM’s Desk
  • Live TV

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

© 2023 Anglican Cable Network Nigeria,Abuja. Designed by Dominion Web.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.