1

THE PATRIARCH OF ALEXANDRIA MEETS WITH THE PRIME MINISTER OF EGYPT

On 17th May 2015, His Beatitude Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa had an official meeting in Cairo with His Excellency Mr. Ibrahim Mehleb, Prime Minister of the Arabic Republic of Egypt.

During the meeting the Patriarch expressed his gratitude and appreciation for the interest shown by the Prime Minister in the Holy Church of the Monastery of St George Old Cairo, in all stages of the works of its complete renovation and development, right through to the inauguration which took place this past April.

The Alexandrian Primate invited the Prime Minister to visit the Church, and Mr. Mehleb on his behalf stated that it was his wish to be present at the Inauguration, but was on a trip to Jakarta for the Asia-Africa Summit. His Beatitude gave as a gift to the Prime Minister a miniature of the Holy Church of St George, noting that after the ceremony of the Inauguration, there was a huge increase in the numbers of Egyptian visitors and tourists to the Holy Monastery.

The Egyptian President on his behalf, after the warm welcome which he gave to Patriarch Theodoros, emphasized that he is the “Ambassador of Justice”, expressed his trust in and appreciation of the efforts of the Alexandrian Primate to serve Egypt and its people, particularly with his call to the Greek and Russian tourists to visit Egypt.

H also thanked His Beatitude for the initiative of establishing a hospital near the Holy Monastery of St George in Old Cairo, which will contribute to the offering of medical services to the residents of the area with dignity, taking into account their social conditions.   

At the end of the meeting the Patriarch expressed his condolences to the families of the Egyptian judges, who yesterday gave their lives for their country, while Mr. Mehleb stated that Egyptian is making every effort to protect its land from terrorist attacks, which do not only threaten the country, but the entire world, as they have no religion and no homeland.

It should be noted that the meeting was covered by all the printed and electronic media of the Country, with very warm comments.