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Egypt Copts Ready for Easter Mass Despite Attacks
[An Nahar] Egyptian Copts will celebrate Easter mass on Saturday, marking one of Christianity's most joyous occasions just days after the deadliest attacks in living memory against the country's religious minority.The faithful will spend a large part of Easter eve going through arduous security checks outside places of worship, after twin Palm Sunday bombings killed 45 people in two cities north of Cairo. The government has declared a state of emergency and called in the army to protect "vital" installations following the suicide kabooms in Tanta and Alexandria, which were claimed by the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... group. "Security has indeed improved so much as it seems the situation needed to be tightened up a lot," said Coptic Church front man Boulos Halim. Coptic Pope Tawadros II will lead Easter mass in Cairo's Saint Mark's Cathedral, while the church said celebrations this year would be scaled back. "Tanta and Alexandria created a big shock, for all of Egypt," Halim said. Easter, which along with Christmas is one of Christianity's most important events, marks the resurrection of Christ three days after followers believe he was crucified. In Egypt, Copts break a 55-day fast abstaining from all animal products following Saturday's mass. Posted by: Fred 2017-04-16 |
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