Coptic Catholic leader sees bombings as test for Egyptian Catholics
April 12, 2017
The Palm Sunday bombings of Coptic Orthodox churches were “a test for the faith of Egypt’s Christians,” the head of the country’s Catholic Copts told the Fides news service.
Patriarch Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak, the Coptic Catholic leader, reported that he was celebrating Mass in the Catholic cathedral in Alexandria at the time when a suicide bomber struck at the Coptic Orthodox cathedral nearby. “We clearly heard the loud explosion,” he said.
The Catholic patriarch said that his Orthodox counterpart, Coptic Pope Tawadros II was “deeply saddened” by the bombings, to the point that “it is not easy to speak with him.” Pope Tawadros was apparently the target of the bomber in Alexandria, but escaped unharmed.
The Catholic patriarch said that he was happy to hear that Pope Francis will not alter his plan to visit Egypt later this month. He remarked that “cancellation of the program could have given the impression that bloodshed and terror can prevail.”
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