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| Africa North |
| Egypt's Mansour wishes Pope Tawadros merry Christmas |
| 2014-01-06 |
| [Al Ahram] Egyptian Interim President Adly Mansour visited Sunday Abbasiya Coptic Cathedral to wish Pope Tawadros IIa merry Christmas, Al-Ahram Arabic website reported. The visit is considered the first of its kind, as previous presidents extended their Christmas greetings by phone or through presidential envoys. Pope Tawadros welcomed Mansour on behalf of Fathers of the Church, the General Congregation Council and the Ministry of Endowments. According to Tawadros, Mansour's good sentiments and affection portray a "beautiful message" to Egyptians. Mansour was eager to send greetings to the Pope to show the country`s appreciation to the role of the Church in the face of any conflicts that might threaten national harmony. He also stressed that the unity between Mohammedans and Copts should last to show the strong bond between the two religions. The spokesperson of the presidency, Ambassador Ihab Badawi, expressed that Mansour "was keen to show Pope Twadros II the appreciation of Egypt to all the efforts of the Coptic citizens who have been working for the welfare and interest of the country." The majority of Egyptian Christians are Orthodox who start the Christmas celebrations on 7 January. Egyptian Christians have faced tough times since the ouster of Islamist former president Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Timeprinciple, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... in July. After a bloody police crackdown on two pro-Morsi sit-ins in August, churches were attacked, ransacked and torched across Egypt. Some Morsi supporters accuse the Christian minority of being behind the ouster of Morsi. |
| Posted by:Fred |