"May poverty, celibacy and obedience according to the evangelical recommendations be a proof and a call to holiness for today’s world". It is one of the wishes expressed by Benedict XVI today to the Coptic Catholic Patriarch Antonios Naguib, whom he received in audience with other delegates of the Church of Alexandria of the Copts. After greeting in particular the Emeritus Patriarch Stephanos II, the Pope mentioned the "special bond of brotherhood" that binds the Patriarchate to the Holy See and wanted them to feel reassured of his prayer and support for "the special task that the Second Vatican Council has entrusted to the Eastern Churches" to make the unit of all Christians progress, and to "develop brotherhood and esteem between Christians and Muslims". Then, Benedict XVI expressed to the Patriarch his appreciation of "their attention to the humane, spiritual, intellectual education of the young through a network of high-quality schools and catecheses" because "today’s boys and girls can thus become responsible men and women in their families and in society and will be longing to build a stronger solidarity and a more fervent fraternity with all the components of the nation". According to the latest figures, the Coptic Catholics of Egypt are approximately 250,000, a small minority in a country with a population of over 74 million.
