Pope’s Egypt visit to go ahead despite bombings
Saudi Council of Senior Scholars issues condemnation of church attacks
who make weapons and trade in them.”
Francis will become the second Roman Catholic pope to visit Egypt, following John Paul II’s historic trip there in February 2000.
Hundreds of mourners, many outraged by what they said was the state’s failure to keep them safe on one of their holiest days, carried wooden coffins to the beat of drums interrupted by the wails of those dressed in all black.
“Where should we go pray? They are attacking us in our churches. They don’t want us to pray but we will pray,” said Samira Adly, 53, whose neighbors were killed in the attack.
“Everyone is falling short...the government, the people... nothing is good.”
The blast in Egypt’s second largest city, which killed 17 including seven police officers, came hours after a bomb struck a Coptic church in Tanta, a nearby city in the Nile Delta, that took the lives of 28 and wounded nearly 80.
The twin attacks marked one of the bloodiest days in recent memory for Egypt’s Christian minority, the largest in the Middle East.
Coptic Pope Tawadros, who was leading the mass in Alexandria’s St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral when the bomb exploded, was not harmed, the Interior Ministry said.
The nationwide state of emergency declared by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and agreed by the Cabinet on Monday is expected to be approved by Parliament within seven days in order to remain in place.
“The armed forces and police will do what is necessary to confront the threats of terrorism and its financing,” the Cabinet said in a statement. Measures would be taken to “maintain security across the country, protect public and private property and the lives of citizens,” it said.
But anger at the state’s failure to secure the religious holiday appeared to be on the rise.