Pope Tawadros II left Cairo this morning, Saturday 3 September, to the Jordanian capital Amman on a pastoral visit. The visit is Pope Tawadros’s first to Jordan, and comes upon invitation by King Abdullah of Jordan.
Father Antonius Sobhy, pastor of the Coptic Orthodox church of Mar-Girgis (St George) in Amman, said that the Pope’s visit is expected to last several days, but did not specify its exact duration. He said that King Abdullah would be meeting Pope Tawadros tomorrow, Sunday.
The Pope will preside over Holy Mass Sunday, after which he will meet the Coptic congregation in Jordan. He will also open the Coptic Orthodox monastery of St Anthony the Great in the district of Madaba, 30km southwest Amman. It was Pope Shenouda III (Coptic Orthodox patriarch from 1971 to 2012, today seen by the Copts as a modern-day saint) who laid the foundation stone of the monastery and gave it its name.
Watani International
3 September 2016