Pope Tawadros II is due to arrive in Sydney on Wednesday on an inaugural tour where he is expected to meet Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews.
He will meet members of the Australian Coptic community and open a new Melbourne office for the local diocese.
John Nour, from the Coptic Diocese of Sydney, says the community is excited for the historic visit.
“He’s here to tell us that we are all working together, he’s coming here to bless us and see the projects we are doing,” Mr Nour told SBS World News.
“It’s very good of him to come such a long way.”
Pope Tawadros II will be welcomed by an expected 1,200-strong crowd at an official welcome dinner in Sydney this weekend, with state leaders also present.
He will also address 10,000 young Copts at an event at the International Convention Centre on Friday.
“It’s going to be a very big and very existing time for the Copts to offer support to his holiness and the Copts community in Egypt as well,” Mr Nour said.
Pope Francis meets with Pope Tawadros II, at the Saint Peter and Saint Paul church in Cairo, which was target by a suicide bomb attack in Dec 2016. Source: IPA Milestone
Pope Tawadros II has been in Japan where he opened the first Coptic church in Kyoto on the weekend.
Pope Tawadros II shares a laugh with Jordanian Prince Ghazi Bin Mohamed (L) during his visit to the Baptism Site at Jordan river, west of Amman, Jordan, 2016. Source: AAP
