AFRICA: EGYPT: NUNCIO ASKS FOR PRAYERS FOR PEACE

Agenzia Fides REPORT - “I have expressed to Pope Shenouda III my condolences and sorrow for the victims of the 31 December attack,” said Archbishop Michael Louis Fitzgerald, Apostolic Nuncio in Egypt, to Fides. “I think this moment requires everyone to pray for peace, and not to put ourselves one against the other, but to work for national unity.”
At midnight on 31 December, during the New Year's Mass, a terrorist attack in the church of Saints of Alexandria in Egypt caused 22 deaths and 79 wounded, most of whom are Coptic Orthodox.
There had been tensions and incidents between police and Coptic protesters, who accuse the authorities of not adequately protecting the local Christian communities.
“Christians do not feel adequately protected, but they understand the difficulties in preventing acts of terrorism,” says Archbishop Fitzgerald. “In seven days the Coptic Orthodox will celebrate Christmas. I hope that this Christian community may celebrate the holiday in tranquillity, peace and joy,” concludes the Nuncio.

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