Departing from his series of Wednesday general audiences on Christian hope, Pope Francis devoted his May 3 address in St. Peter’s Square to his recent apostolic journey to Egypt.

“My meeting with the Grand Imam, and my message to the International Conference for Peace, recalled that peace is the fruit of an education to wisdom and a humanism that respects the religious dimension of our existence,” the Pope said. “Our covenant with God, grounded in the commandment of love of God and neighbor, inspires our efforts to build a just and peaceful civil order in which all have a part to play.”

“Egypt’s great cultural and religious heritage gives the nation a special role in this work of peacemaking,” the Pope continued. “In my meeting with the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch, Pope Tawadros II, we reaffirmed our mutual commitment to unity and prayed together for the victims of the recent attacks.”

Pope Francis added:

At Mass with the Catholic community, and in my meeting with priests, religious and seminarians, I saw the beauty of the Church in Egypt, and I encouraged everyone to persevere in the hope of the Gospel. May the Holy Family, who once found refuge in Egypt, bless and protect its people with prosperity, fraternity, and peace.

Source: catholicculture.org