Pope Tawadros II And Pope Francis: Coptic Orthodox And Catholic Heads Meet In Vatican (PHOTOS)

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Pope Francis (R) greets the Coptic Orthodox leader Tawadros II during a private audience in the pontiff's library on May 10, 2013 at the Vatican. Tawadros II arrived in Rome the day before for a historic four-day visit to meet Pope Francis -- a sign of growing rapprochement between the Vatican and the Orthodox world. AFP PHOTO / POOL / ANDREAS SOLARO (Photo credit should read ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP/Getty Images)

By NICOLE WINFIELD 05/10/13 08:56 AM ET EDT

VATICAN CITY -- Two popes prayed together Friday at the Vatican, one Catholic and one Orthodox, in a sign of improving ties following the election of new leaders for both churches.

Pope Francis welcomed the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt, Pope Tawadros II, in the first such meeting at the Vatican in 40 years, saying his visit "strengthens the bonds of friendship and brotherhood" between the two churches.

The Coptic and Catholic churches split in the fifth century over theocratic differences.

Christians comprise about 10 percent of Egypt's population. The Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt counts about 10 million faithful, while the Coptic Catholic Church in Egypt – whose faithful are loyal to Pope Francis – counts about 165,000.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/10/pope-tawadros-ii-pope-francis_n_3251288.html

[hunter]

1. Interesting how fifth century grudges over language and politics persist.

Coptic has no living speakers, it is purely a liturgical language now, and the fifth century politics are long forgotten.

But the division still remains.

I enjoyed the description on wikipedia:

The Church belongs to the Oriental Orthodox family of churches, which has been a distinct church body since the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451, when it took a different position over Christological theology from that of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The precise differences in theology that caused the split with the Coptic Christians are still disputed, highly technical, and mainly concerned with the nature of Christ.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptic_church

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2. If it wasn't for the Vatican, Latin would not have any living speakers either.

It's interesting the article says the split was over theocratic, not theological, differences.