French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen told the daily La Croix: “I am angry with the Church because I think it interferes with everything except what it should really be concerned with.”

Le Pen said that she has a “strong faith, and I am fortunate that I have never doubted it.” But she was blunt in her criticism of Pope Francis, particularly on the issue of immigration. She insisted that charitable activities should be the responsibilities of individuals, while states should pursue their national interests. When the Pope urges nations to accept immigrants without restrictions, she said, “this falls within the realm of politics and even interference.”

Le Pen said that if she is elected as president of France, she will “with great pleasure” invite Pope Francis to visit. “And I will tell him exactly what I have just told you,” she added.

Pollsters in France have consistently rated Le Pen as likely to emerge as a finalists in the presidential race. The first round of balloting will take place and unless one candidate wins a majority—a highly unlikely outcome—the two leading vote-getters will pair off for a final contest on May 7.

In her interview with La Croix, Le Pen took a strong stand for the French tradition of secularity in government and in public affairs generally. She argued that religious symbols such as the Islamic veil should not be allowed in public, explaining: “Secularism means that one can pass someone in the street without either one knowing what faith the other follows.”

When asked whether religious leaders have a right to enter into public debates, Le Pen replied: “I don’t get involved with what the Pope should say to his followers. I don’t think religious should tell the French people how to vote.” She complained that the French bishops’ conference—which has clearly signaled a distaste for Le Pen’s National Front—has also overstepped its proper bounds.

Russia’s Supreme Court formally banned Jehovah’s Witnesses as an extremist organization and ordered the state to seize its property in Russia, according to Russian news media. The court, after six days of hearings, ordered the closing of the group’s Russia headquarters and its 395 local chapters on April 20.

The Interfax news agency quoted Justice Ministry attorney Svetlana Borisova in court as saying the Jehovah’s Witnesses pose a threat to Russians.
“They pose a threat to the rights of the citizens, public order and public security,” she told the court. Borisova also said the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ opposition to blood transfusions violates Russian health care laws.

“We are greatly disappointed by this development and deeply concerned about how this will affect our religious activity,” said Yaroslav Sivulskiy, a spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia. “We will appeal this decision, and we hope that our legal rights and protections as a peaceful religious group will be fully restored as soon as possible.”

They trace their origins back to the age of the Apostles, yet still the Copts are treated as second-class citizens in their own county.

When Islamic State extremists attacked Saint Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Alexandria on Palm Sunday, they struck at the historic heart of Egypt’s Christian community. The Coptic Patriarch, Pope Tawadros II, was leading a service inside when a suicide bomber was challenged at the church gates.

Forty-five people were killed in two separate attacks on Coptic churches that Sunday: one of the bloodiest days of violence against Christians in Egypt in decades. Earlier at St George’s church in the city of Tanta, 60 miles north of Cairo, at least 28 people died and another 80 were injured when another attacker slipped past security and blew himself up near the front pews of the church. The Patriarch later issued a statement declaring that “these acts will not harm the unity and cohesion of the people.”

Pope Francis has chosen not to travel in a bullet-proof vehicle for his first trip to Egypt this week, despite a recent spate of terrorist attacks targeting the country’s Christians.
The Pope will fly from Rome to Cairo on April 28 for a two-day visit intended to build on inter-faith dialogue with Muslim leaders and to show solidarity with beleaguered Christian communities in the Middle East.

Despite his vulnerability as a potential terrorist target, the Pope will not travel through the streets of Cairo in an armoured vehicle, the Vatican said. “The Pope will use a closed car to move around, but not an armoured one,” said Greg Burke, the Vatican spokesman. “That’s how he wanted it.”