Mourning, joy for Egyptian Christians as Pope Francis pays visit

Pope Francis with a baby at the end of his weekly general audience in St Peter’s square, Vatican City on Wednesday. He flies to Egypt on Friday. PHOTO | VINCENZO PINTO | AFP

What you need to know:

  • It will be the Argentine pontiff’s first visit to the Arab world’s most populous nation where the population is 90 per cent Muslim.
  • The Islamic State group said it was behind the attacks which killed 45 people.
  • On April 18, IS gunmen attacked a police checkpoint near the famed St Catherine’s monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai, killing one officer and wounding three.

CAIRO

Egypt’s Christians are still mourning members of the Coptic Orthodox community murdered this month by jihadists, but there is also joy ahead of a visit by Pope Francis this weekend.

In a Cairo Church amid wafting incense, strident percussion and prayers, worshippers are looking forward to the Roman Catholic head’s arrival on Friday, seeing his two-day trip as one of support for the minority community.

It will be the Argentine pontiff’s first visit to the Arab world’s most populous nation where the population is 90 per cent Muslim.

His already arranged trip rapidly assumed a highly symbolic tone after two jihadist suicide bombers on April 9 targeted Coptic churches in the cities of Alexandria and Tanta.

The Islamic State group said it was behind the attacks which killed 45 people.

MORE ATTACKS

“Obviously everyone is worried after what happened,” said 23-year-old student Karim Saber after Sunday night mass at the Virgin Mary Catholic Coptic Cathedral in northern Cairo.

“But by coming to Egypt, the Pope is showing us that nothing, including terrorism, can prevent us from praying.”

The threat remains present, however, as jihadists have threatened more attacks against the Copts who make up 10 per cent of Egypt’s population of more than 90 million.

On April 18, IS gunmen attacked a police checkpoint near the famed St Catherine’s monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai, killing one officer and wounding three.

But at Sunday night’s mass in Cairo, there was optimism.

“After every painful moment, there is always something beautiful which brings joy,” said 25-year-old graphic designer Dina Fahmi.

BLESSINGS

“The Pope — the head of the church in the world — is coming to give us support and this is a blessing for us.”

While the overwhelming majority of Egypt’s Christians are Coptic Orthodox, Roman Catholics have also lived in the country from the fifth century.

Egypt’s small Catholic community — some 272,000 faithful, according to Holy See estimates — also wants a lavish welcome for its spiritual leader.

Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, Catholic orders in Egypt — Franciscans, Dominicans and Jesuits — developed a network of schools, hospitals and charitable activities.

The papacy formally and legally established the Coptic Catholic Patriarchate in the 19th century.

LEAD MASS

On Saturday, Pope Francis will lead a mass at a Cairo stadium bringing together all of the Catholic churches: the Catholic Coptic church, the Armenian, Maronite and Greek Catholic churches.

Ahead of this weekend’s celebrations, one choir is rehearsing in a hall beside Saint Joseph’s Church of the Franciscan fathers in central Cairo.

Soprano, tenor, and bass voices rise in Arabic, Italian and French, accompanied by piano, flute and saxophone and led by head chorister Magdeline Michel.

“On the uniform, we have agreed on white shirts and black trousers,” she told the choir in Arabic interspersed with some French.

“Of course his visit at this time makes us proud.”

“At the same time, his visit makes us feel safe — his insistence on coming despite the circumstances is something that reassures us,” she said.