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Sunday, 30 April 2017

Pope Francis visits El Sisi, El Tayeb, Pope Tawadros, leads Catholic Mass in two-day visit

Pope Francis’ two-day visit to Cairo wrapped yesterday. The Pontiff’s itinerary was jam-packed with meetings and public appearances — all of which he reached in “a simple Fiat car,” Reuters reports. Francis received a warm welcome from Al Azhar Grand Imam Ahmed El Tayeb at the peace conference hosted by the Islamic institution with various Muslim and Christian leaders on Friday. The pontiff delivered a speech urging the rejection of violence and calling on Al Azhar to ensure its teachings denounce terrorism carried out in the name of God (watch in Arabic, runtime 25:17).

“And at every stop on his first day, he issued variations on the same hard-hitting theme,” the Associated Press reports. Francis’ statements carried subtle nudges to the Egyptian government to ensure the equal treatment of Christians through “unconditional respect for inalienable human rights such as equality among all citizens, religious freedom and freedom of expression, without any distinction.”

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi received Pope Francis at the Ittihadiya Palace following the Azhar peace conference, during which the two discussed extremism in Egypt and the country’s Christian community, according to an emailed presidency statement. In a speech following their meeting, El Sisi stressed Egypt’s effort to combat terrorism extremist ideology and called for a comprehensive global strategy to eradicate terrorism by cutting off sources of funding, implementing security measures, and addressing the root causes of the phenomenon. You can watch the president’s remarks in full here (runtime 16:47).

The pontiff met his Coptic Orthodox counterpart Pope Tawadros II and the two attended a non-denominational prayer service at St. Peter’s Church, which was the site of the December bombing that killed 30. The two popes also reached an agreement that will see each of the two churches recognize baptisms performed by the other, according to a statement from the Coptic Orthodox Church Spokesperson, ending a practice of converts from one branch of Christianity to the other being forced to be re-baptized.

On Saturday, Pope Francis led Mass at the Air Defense Stadium on Saturday for Egypt’sCatholic community, with 15,000 people in attendance, according to Reuters. The mass was surrounded by heavy security, complete with military helicopters flying in the air and police forces stationed on the ground, the Associated Press says. Similar precautions accompanied the pope’s visit to Maadi, where he stopped in on the St. Leo the Great Coptic Catholic Patriarchal Seminary.

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