The largest Christian Church in the Middle East has suspended theological dialogue with Rome, in what appears to be a response to Fiducia Supplicans.
Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church, whose seven million adherents follow the leadership of Pope Tawadros II, announced the decision after a synod in Alexandria last week.
In a statement published on 7 March, the Church said: “After consultation with the sister churches of the Eastern Orthodox family, it was decided to suspend the theological dialogue with the Catholic Church.”
It announced plans to “re-evaluate the results that the dialogue has achieved since its beginning twenty years ago, and establish new standards and mechanisms for the dialogue to proceed.”
While the Church made no direct mention of Fiducia Supplicans – December’s declaration from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on the blessing of “irregular” couples – it strongly affirmed its rejection of same-sex relationships “because they violate the Holy Bible and the law by which God created man male and female”.
In what appeared to be a reference to Fiducia Supplicans, the Coptic Orthodox Church said it considered “any blessing, whatever its type, for such relationships is a blessing for sin”, concluding, “this is unacceptable”.
The announcement came after the plenary session of the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church met on 7 March at Pope Tawadros’s residence in the Monastery of Saint Anba Bishoy, in Wadi Natroun, Egypt.
This setback for relations between the Catholic and Coptic Orthodox Churches may also come as a personal blow to Pope Francis. He first met Pope Tawadros II on 10 May 2013 and that date was subsequently enshrined as the annual “Day of Friendship between Copts and Catholics”.
In May 2023, Pope Francis recognised as martyrs 21 Coptic Orthodox workers beheaded by Islamist militants in 2015 on a beach in Sirte, Libya. Their inclusion in the Roman martyrology was regarded as a milestone in ecumenical relations.
Coptic Orthodox tradition dates the Church’s foundation to St Mark the Evangelist in the first century AD.
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