Coptic Church & Ecumenical Movement - Saint Mina Coptic ...

ADDRESS OF POPE SHENOUDA III
May 6th, 1973
After the celebration of the Holy Mass, Pope Shenouda III went to the main altar of the
basilica where he was greeted by Paul VI. He then delivered the following address.
Dear Brother in the Lord,
Your Holiness Pope Paul VI,
The Lord Jesus Christ said to the Father: “that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in
Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us,” (John 17:21), “...that they may be
one as We are.” (John 17:11). Jesus Christ, who so said, undoubtedly leads with His
Holy Spirit every action that tends to unity, whether of heart, mind or faith. For the
Church is Christ’s body; and He has but one body.
We fully believe that He has disposed for this meeting so that we may take a step
forward in strengthening the relations between our two apostolic Churches, which were
two among the four great apostolic Churches of early Christianity. We have a
responsibility, we believe, to work for the unity of faith, not only between us but all over
Christendom.
We dare say our differences were for the sake of Christ’s love, through which we love
each other regardless of the differences. We meet today so that we may deepen our
mutual love. Talks guided by the Holy Spirit in such an atmosphere should lead to unity
of heart, mind and faith.
However, we have to declare there are between us many points of agreement in the
principles of faith. We all believe in the One God, the divine, Trinity, Father, Son and
Holy Spirit. The Lord’s Incarnation, act of Redemption, Resurrection, Ascension and
Second Coming to judge the living and the dead are our common belief. Yes, we believe
that the human soul is everlasting, we believe in the resurrection of the dead and the life
hereafter, the intercession of the Virgin Mary, the angels and the saints, the seven
sacraments and the work of the Holy Spirit Ghost in them. We believe in one way for
salvation and we condemn the heresies of Arius, Nestorius, Euthyches, Sabelius,
Macedonios and the others.
As for points of difference, there is no doubt that after fifteen centuries of study,
examination and controversy both on theological and public levels we are undoubtedly
on much nearer grounds than our ancestors of the fifth and sixth centuries. We all are
readier and more intensive to reach solutions for the differences and attain simpler and
more practical forms of expression for the conceptions of faith that all would welcome.
We are mindful that the tension of old philosophic and, linguistic understandings
together with the political implications connected with the days of schism and the
following centuries have been considerably reduced.
Your Holiness, the world of today, suffering from movements of atheistic, materialistic,
sceptic or immoral natures is in drastic need for the cooperation of all Churches so that
proper human conscience would find support in the twentieth century. Hence, fully
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