A weekend full of intense and exciting celebrations at the Coptic Orthodox Monastery of the Holy Virgin Mary and St. Mauritius in Höxter-Brenkhausen, Germany, marked the 25th anniversary of the opening of the spiritual centre of the Coptic Orthodox Church, which has become a point of reference for all Egyptian immigrants in Germany. The German Catholic Church paid tribute to that symbolic place which is an important centre for ecumenical fraternity. Conveying the greetings of Cardinal Reinhard Marx, President of the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK), and of Bishop Gerhard Feige of Magdeburg, chair of the German bishops’ Commission for Ecumenism, was Mgr. Wilhelm Zimmermann, Auxiliary Bishop of Essen, who is also a member of the ecumenical commission. Mgr. Zimmermann praised the Coptic Orthodox Bishop Damiano for his foresight and congratulated him on the “impressive development of the monastery”. The fraternal relations between the Catholic Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church in Germany are reflected in the fruitful contacts between Rome and Cairo: “In our Diocese of Essen, we are witnessing this dynamic development, and we look ahead with our Coptic brothers and sisters in the faith, who are actively involved in the ecumenical movement in Germany”, Mgr. Zimmermann said, paying homage to the Coptic Orthodox Church as a Church of martyrdom: “Many people have learned how difficult the situation of the Copts in Egypt is and the great extent to which Christianity is threatened throughout the Middle East”.