Claremont Graduate University welcomes His Holiness Pope Tawadros II for historic visit

Claremont Graduate University (CGU) welcomed His Holiness Pope Tawadros II the Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria to Claremont on Oct. 19 to celebrate a new partnership between the university and the Saint Athanasius and Saint Cyril Coptic Orthodox Theological School (ACTS).

His Holiness blessed the partnership during a ceremony on the campus of the Claremont School of Theology (CST) which will serve as the new home to ACTS. The partnership enables CGU and ACTS to share academic resources and collaborate on events. It also extends educational opportunities at CGU for ACTS students and graduates.

Claremont Graduate University’s Department of Religion is a home for the rigorous academic study of the Coptic religion and culture. ACTS aims to train both Coptic Orthodox clergy and scholars of Coptic Orthodox tradition.

CGU President Robert Schult said these complementary missions make CGU and ACTS natural partners.

“This new agreement opens the doors for a collaborative relationship between members of the Coptic faith and those in academia who wish to better understand its traditions and history ” he said.

A memorandum of understanding formalizing the partnership was signed by Schult ACTS President His Grace Bishop Serapion and His Holiness Pope Tawadros II during the Oct. 19 celebration.

The celebration also featured an opening prayer and remarks by His Holiness formal welcomes by Schult and CST President Jeffrey Kuan and the exchange of gifts. His Holiness presented Presidents Kuan and Schult with gilded icons of Christ. Schult presented His Holiness Pope Tawdros ll and His Grace Bishop Sarapion with books written by CGU Coptic Studies Professor Gawdat Gabra.

Attendees included: Ambassador Lamia Mekhemar the Consul General of Egypt; Tammi Schneider dean of CGU’s School of Arts and Humanities; CGU Professor Ambassador Sallama Shaker; Michael Saad chair of CGU’s Coptic Studies Council; Father John Paul Abdelsayed dean of ACTS; and faculty staff and administrators from CGU CST and ACTS as well as members of the local Coptic Orthodox community.

The visit marked a significant milestone in the relationship between Coptic studies in academia and Coptic faith and culture as lived by Copts around the world.

With roots going back to Ancient Egypt Coptic civilization is one of the oldest still in existence. This puts it on par with Chinese or Indian civilizations and makes Coptic culture vital for understanding the ancient world or any of the modern institutions it has influenced.

For nearly 50 years Claremont Graduate University has served as a home for Coptic studies providing substantial resources including:

• A world center for the translation of the Coptic manuscripts and codices.

• An expansion of Coptic studies to encompass language literature art history Bible liturgy monasticism and diaspora.

• Publication rights to the digital Coptic Encyclopedia with the online Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia now receiving an average of 50 000 article views per month ranking CGU among the few universities to support an active Coptic website of such historical significance.

• Host of the Eleventh International Congress of Coptic Studies in July 2016.

CGU’s relationship with the Coptic Orthodox Church includes visits and lectures of His Holiness Pope Shenouda III in 1977 and 1989 Bishop Serapion in 2008 and Bishop Yousef in 2009.

About Claremont Graduate University

Founded in 1925 Claremont Graduate University is the graduate university of the Claremont Colleges. Our five academic schools conduct leading-edge research and award masters and doctoral degrees in 24 disciplines. Because the world’s problems are not simple nor easily defined diverse faculty and students research and study across the traditional discipline boundaries to create new and practical solutions for the major problems plaguing our world. A Southern California-based graduate school devoted entirely to graduate research and study CGU boasts a low student-to-faculty ratio.

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