Speech by His Holines Pope Shinoda III in Addis Ababa Holy Trinity Cathedral

His Holiness the brother Abune Paulos, the Patriarch of Ethiopia and Arch Bishop of Axume,
All my brothers,
The metropolitans and the Bishops of the Ethiopian Church,
Our Dear Ambassador of Egypt,
I greet you in the Name of God.  I am very glad to see Ethiopia after about 34 years.

Some differences and misunderstandings began from the time of Mengistu.  But we thank God you could get rich of all these proverbs.  Our relation with the Ethiopian Church returns to the year 329, when pope Athanasius of Alexandaria sent for you the first bishop for Ethiopia.  That means more than 16 centuries ago.  And we were together. We are one faith. We are the same orthodoxy and the same teaching of our Lord.  We were together in many feels especially in the world council of churches and I am glad that his holiness Abune Paulos is one of the president of the world council of the Churches.  I took this responsibility about twenty years ago so we are working the same feels my visit to Ethiopia Church. Today is only a beginning, is a start, is so deep relation of the future God willing.  I am pleased that Ethiopia is flourishing in many feels.  I was glad to see the new Addis Ababa with new buildings, which I didn’t see before in my first visit.  And also the airport is new, every thing is new, and our relation is new also.  We were pleased on Abune Paulos visited Egypt.  We welcomed him in a very deep way.  And we are happy to come here also, to see the same people all of them are brothers.

 
I thank our sons who give us the ceremony of their prayer.  When I meet some of the Ethiopians, I am quite sure that there are our sons and I have deep feelings for them. 

I invite you to visit Egypt.   If you can, this is for the whole population.  In Egypt you see the relics of saint Mark and the relics of saint Athanasius.  And you can take blessing of these relics.  All of us are the sons of Saint Mark.  Every where many of them our Cathedral have the title of Saint Mark Church.  The first church we established in London, England, it is Saint Mark Church.  The first Church we established in America, in Canada is Saint Mark Church.  The first Church we established in Kenya also saint Mark Church.  We love Saint Mark.  And all of us are sons of Saint Mark.

We thank Saint Mark because he evangelized us and came to give us the word of God and Christian faith.  And he became martyr in Egypt.

     And Egypt has a privilege of having the blood of Saint Mark on epigrams.  Egypt also my Sons and daughters and my brothers visited by the holy family, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and Saint Mary.  In the past and fourthy years ago Saint marry appear on the dooms of the Church of Saint Marry Zaytun. 

We love you and we want to do our best in every thing we can do for you.  You may order and you will be executive.  I am glad with the building of the theological college.  I wish it will be full of students and teachers. And I brought for you an example of teachers I was glad also when I came here and so many of Sunday schools teachers and Sons all around the place. I wish that Sunday schools may be successful in its work.  You see in our church we have pastoral care for every child from the very beginning of his life and have care for him as far as he grows in his ages.  In Cairo alone we have more than 30,000 Sunday school teachers.  In some of our huge Churches we have the same Church about three hundred teachers. 
And these teachers are male and female.  And in our Seminaries we have students male and female.  Because the mother if she is educated in theology in the Bible in the teaching of the church she can be great benefit for her children and for the area in which she lives.

We want pastoral care for every body. Because in the last day God will ask us for every body what can we say for you we are only the servants of your churches where ever in Egypt.

Saint Augustans once in his prayers said, “O God I teach these people but in front of you I am only a student.  I take teaching from you to give them and what you gave me I give them. I am the shepherd of these people but in front of you I am only a sheep.  You shepherd me and shepherd them. This is our work to be servants of the people.  Once some people came from America and asked me about our work in priest hood.  I said to him to such person our work is not authority but responsibility.  You can understand it.  And every authority we take from God is how to do our responsibility.  Responsibility is for every child, for every body, for every man, for every woman, for every youth. The build the kingdom of God and let people inter this kingdom.  Here in order to inter the kingdom of God in heaven.  May God bless all of you and may God bless our two Churches.

And may God give us His Holy Spirit to abide in our heart and to abide our thinking in order to do His will commence through the intercession all the sense Amen.          

      Praise be to God. Amen!!