The Vatican has said Pope Francis will continue with his visit to Egypt later this month despite raised security fears following the deadly terrorist attacks on churches at the weekend.
Archbishop Giovanni Becciu, a top diplomat at the Holy See’s Secretariat of State, said the Pope is sticking with his plan to make the trip to Cairo on 28-29 April, where Francis will address a conference on peace at the famous Al-Azhar university.
“What happened causes confusion and great suffering but it cannot prevent the Pope’s mission for peace,” the archbishop explained in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. “Without hiding from reality the Pope invites us to look to the future with hope. And as always he wants to led by example.” The Palm Sunday attacks on two Coptic churches killed at least 44 with fundamentalist group Daesh – Islamic State – claiming responsibility for the atrocities.
Archbishop Becciu stressed that dialogue with the Islamic world was a way of “isolating” extremists and that the Pope wanted distinguish between acts of terror and the Muslim faith, something which has gained him the respect of Arab leaders.
“The honesty of his positions have earned him the gratitude of Muslims,” he explained. “Many Islamic authorities have met the Pope to thank him, while many others have written to express admiration for his moral authority.” Coptic Pope survives unharmed as at least 44 die In Palm Sunday suicide attacks in Egypt. When he is in Egypt Francis’ meetings will take place in secure and tightly-controlled locations while the papal Mass will be cele- brated amidst high security at a closed stadium of Cairo attended by around 30,000 faithful.
