(Prefect of Congregation for Oriental Churches,
Vatican City)
I speak as Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches about the presence of Christians in Egypt, Ethiopia and Eritrea.
These Churches have been part of Oriental Christianity for the first centuries. They have already distinguished themselves in theological science (Clement the Alexandrine, Origen) and for blossoming of monastic life (Anthony, Pacomius, Athanasius), which then spread throughout the East and West.
They were and are significant models of incarnation in the Church in the local culture: Alexandrine tradition, in its spreading in Ethiopia, took on its own personal connotations, ever more deeply African. For this reason one must look back at this liturgical and disciplinary tradition which more naturally can form even today those people who, in the vicinities, choose to embrace Christian faith.
The Egyptian Copts still today have a fundamental role in the Islamic and Muslim world. They are the largest Christian minority of the Middle East and have maintained Christian faith through many difficulties, while ancient Latin Christianity has disappeared.
Ecumenical dialogue with the Orthodox Churches in the area must be reinforced, helping in a special way the Ethiopian Churches, which have just overcome the trials of the Marxist government and war.
We must also mutually end the practice of renaming Christians passing from one Church to another.
Special affection and help is owed to the Oriental Churches of the region: They agree with the Oriental Tradition, in full communion with the Successor of Peter. This deals with both those who participate in the above mentioned Traditions (Coptic and Ethiopian), as well as the other Oriental Churches, even if of a more limited consistency in these lands (Armenian, Chaldean, Maronite, Melchite).
Original text: Italian
