Under the patronage and in the presence of His Holiness Pope Tawadros II Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the see of St. Mark and his partner in the Apostolic Service HG Anba Ermia, General Bishop and head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center, the Cultural center organized a huge ceremony, on Thursday, April 19th, to announce the winners of Pope Shenouda III Award of Wisdom and Compassion 2018, The ceremony was attended by a number of ministers, ambassadors and public figures.
HG Bishop Ermia began the ceremony with a speech, in which His Grace welcomed His Holiness Pope Tawadros II pointing that His Holiness is always keen to attend the ceremony and present the award, His Holiness the Pope has attended precedent years ceremonies, where the winners were Eng. Hani Azar, Counselor of the President of Egypt and the Known Tunnel Engineer in Germany, Eng. Ibrahim Samak, solar energy scientist in Germany, and Businessman Eng. Onsi Sawiris.
His Grace said that the reason for postponing the ceremony this year was the important presidential election, which resulted the crushing victory of President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi with a large percentage of attendance and participation.
He pointed that after the consensus of the Advisory Council of the Center and ratification of His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, the winners of Coptic Coptic Orthodox Church – Pope Shenouda III Award of “Wisdom and Compassion” for 2018 are Ambassador Dr. Péter Kveck, Ambassador of Hungary in Cairo and Dr. Paulo Sapatini, head of the Italian Cultural Institute in Cairo and Cultural Counselor of the Embassy of Italy.
At the beginning of his speech, His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the see of St. Mark, welcomed the attendance and expressed his happiness for attending this beautiful ceremony at the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center in the presence of a large number of Egyptians and non-Egyptians. He said that Egypt is the mother of civilizations and cultures and our history is rich adding that Egypt is the only country which have both great history and geography.
His Holiness expressed his happiness to attend a ceremony commemorating a great man like Pope Shenouda III, a man with rich history, great service and good relations with all, and announced the award winners, His Excellency Dr. Péter Kveck, Ambassador of Hungary in Cairo and Dr. Paulo Sapatini, head of the Italian Cultural Institute in Cairo and Cultural Counselor of the Embassy of Italy, pointing to their important role in strengthening relations between Egypt and Hungary and also between Egypt and Italy, stressing that strong cultural relations between countries also contribute to the consolidation of relations between peoples and humanity.
Ambassador Dr. Péter Kveck said that Pope Shenouda III was the first Coptic Patriarch to visit Hungary. During his visit, when we asked him what we could offer for the Copts in Egypt, his answer was “pray for us,” adding that he was a saintly man.
At his speech, Ambassador Kveck thanked President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for his great role in the fight against terrorism as well as his directives to the army to restore the churches, as well as to protect civilians and praised Muslims who’s blood were shedded to protect Egypt and churches.
He referred to the good and positive act made by His Excellency President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi every year by going to the cathedral to greet Christians for Christmas.
At the end of his speech, his Excellency thanked His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, who leads the Church and his partner, HG Anba Ermia.
Then came the speech of Dr. Paolo Sabatini, Cultural Counselor of the Embassy of Italy in Cairo, Director of the Italian Cultural Institute, who expressed his sincere thanks and gratitude to His Holiness Pope Twadros II and His Grace Anba Ermia for choosing him to receive this great award, stressing that his work may not be as great as this honoring.
Dr. Paulo said that during his 38 years of missions, diplomatic and cultural work, Pope Shenouda III’s “Wisdom and Compassion” award is the most beautiful tribute he received during his long journey, pointing out that Triple Beatified Pope Shenouda III is a man with a history that everybody admire.
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