“We share almost everything: one faith only, one baptism only, one Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ only”. The Pope received Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Abune Mathias I today, and welcomed him with those words. “We are united thanks to baptism, incorporating us into Christ’s only body – went on Francis – We are united thanks to several elements we have in common in our rich monastic and liturgical traditions. We are brothers and sisters in Christ. As has been stated several times, the things uniting us are much more important than the ones dividing us”. “The visit of Your Holiness strengthens the brotherly links already joining our Churches”, said the Pope first of all, recalling “the visit of Patriarch Abune Paulos to Saint John Paul II in 1993 with gratitude”, as well as the following one, in 2009, to Benedict XVI. Moreover, since 2004, “the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches together tried to tighten their links through theological dialogue carried on by the Joint International Committee”, with “growing participation by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church”. “Sharing sufferings has brought Christians closer to each other, regardless of several different views on many aspects”: that is the ecumenical balance of Francis. According to the Pope, “in the same way as martyr bloodshed has become the seed for new Christians in the primitive Church, today the blood of so many martyrs belonging to all Churches is becoming the seed of Christian unity”.