Pope includes Coptic Orthodox martyrs in Catholic compendium of saints

Pope Francis and Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II share a moment of prayer in the Redemptoris Mater chapel of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace on May 11, 2023. Standing beside his Coptic Orthodox counterpart, Pope Tawadros II, Francis on Thursday highlighted the various points of progress in the dialogue between their two churches and thanked Tawadros for the gift of relics of the 21 Coptic Orthodox martyrs. Officials said the Coptic martyrs likely will be inserted among the saints recalled on Feb. 15, the same day the Coptic church commemorates them. Based in Egypt, the Coptic Orthodox Church, also known as the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, is an Orthodox Christian church which traces its founding to the Apostle Mark, hailed as one of the four Evangelists in Catholicism and who is buried in St. Mark’s cathedral in Venice. Coptic Orthodox constitute not only the largest population of Christians in Egypt, but in the Middle East as a whole.