Coptic leader raps Egyptian president for failure to contain anti-Christian violence

April 09, 2013

Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II has berated Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi for his government’s failure to protect the country’s Christian minority.

The Coptic leader said that Morsi had promised to protect St. Mark’s cathedral in Cairo, “but in reality he did not.” The cathedral was attacks by Islamic radicals, in which 80 people were injured, during the past weekend. Christians said that police declined to intervene as worshippers were pelted with rocks. Pope Tawadros said that the incident “comes under the category of negligence and poor assessment of events.”

Pope Tawadros, who became the leader of Egypt’s Copts in November, has issued frequent warnings about the rise of Islamic sectarian influence. His predecessor, the late Pope Shenouda III, had maintained friendly relations with the previous government led by President Hosni Mubaraka. Since Mubarak’s ouster, the incidence of violence against the Christian minority has increased markedly.

 

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Further information:

• Egypt's Christian pope blasts Islamist president (AP)
• Stones, bombs thrown at Coptic Orthodox cathedral in Cairo (CWN, 4/8)