Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Cairo (Agenzia Fides) - Coptic Orthodox Patriarch Tawadros II will travel to Ethiopia in September, where he will take part in the celebrations for the feast of the Holy Cross along with Abuna Mathias I, Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. This is what Coptic Sources report. In a statement released by the Coptic Patriarchate, it was also confirmed that the visit will allow to continue the "ecclesial mediation" with which the Primates of the two sister Churches seek to ease tension between Egypt and Ethiopia on the question of the Great Renaissance Dam, the imposing hydraulic work on the Nile.
The issue of the dam had been addressed during the visit of Abune Mathias in Egypt, which took place last January. Egyptians fear that the Ethiopian project of the large dam may have negative impact on the volume of the waters of the Nile, so far available to the economy and the needs of the population. The Egyptian population lives concentrated in 4% of the land area of the Country, in the lands that are located close to the river. The whole life of the nation depends in various forms on the Nile.
Pope Tawadros aims to favor the development of a new ecclesial sensitivity regarding the risks associated with unplanned and disorderly exploitation of national water resources. In this respect, it was announced that some priests will follow training courses to be held at public institutions that manage irrigation systems, in order to be able to contribute, through homilies and catechesis, to the vital need to safeguard from an ecological point of view the great river artery. (GV) (Agenzia Fides 28/08/2015)
