Military helicopters flew overhead and police fanned out in force
today as Pope Francis celebrated an open-air Mass for Egypt’s tiny
Catholic community, on the final day of a visit aimed at comforting
Christians following a series of attacks by Islamic militants. Despite the security concerns, Francis zoomed around the Cairo sports
stadium in an open-topped golf cart before the start of Mass. The crowd
cheered him wildly, waving Egyptian and Holy See flags and swaying to
hymns sung by church choirs. The defence ministry’s stadium has a
capacity of 25,000, but only about 15,000 people attended — a reflection
that Catholics represent less than 1 percent of Egypt’s 92 million
people. In his homily, Francis urged them to be good and merciful to their
fellow Egyptians, saying “the only fanaticism believers can have is that
of charity!” “Any other fanaticism does not come from God and is not pleasing to him!” he said.
Yesterday, Francis demanded that Muslim leaders renounce religious
fanaticism that leads to violence. Francis made the appeal during a
landmark visit to Cairo’s Al-Azhar, the revered, 1,000-year-old seat of
Sunni Islam learning that trains clerics and scholars from around the
world. Security was exceptionally tight around the stadium and in the
upscale neighborhood where Francis spent the night, with uniformed and
plain-clothed police stationed every meter (yard) or so along his
motorcade route. Police used metal detectors to check vehicles for
explosives and armed guards stood watch, some on rooftops, their faces
covered. But Francis decided to forego the bullet-proof “popemobile” that his
predecessors used on foreign trips and drove through Cairo in a simple
Fiat, his window rolled down.
“He is a messenger of peace, he is really a messenger of peace,” said
Amgad Eskandr before the Mass got under way at the stadium. “All his
words talk about peace, call for peace, push for peace which is great.” His gestures sent a defiant message to the extremist Islamic State
group, whose local affiliate in Egypt has vowed to target Egypt’s
Christians to punish them for their support of President Abdel-Fattah
el-Sissi. As defense minister, El-Sissi had led the military ouster of the
Islamist Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president whose
one-year rule proved divisive.
Already, attacks against Christians in northern Sinai, the epicenter
of the insurgency, have forced hundreds of families to flee the region,
seeking refuge elsewhere in Egypt. Recent attacks on churches — one in
Cairo in December and twin Palm Sunday attacks in cities north of the
Egyptian capital — have claimed at least 75 lives and injured scores.
The attacks led to heightened security at churches nationwide and the declaration by el-Sissi of a state of emergency.
Francis strongly backed the government’s crackdown on the extremists
Friday, saying Egypt was uniquely placed to bring peace to the region
and “vanquish all violence and terrorism.”
He also paid tribute to the victims of a December bombing at central
Cairo’s St. Peter’s church, which is located in close proximity to the
St. Mark’s cathedral, the seat of the Coptic Orthodox Church. Blood on
one of the church walls remains along with pictures of the victims in
remembrance of the attack.
What is at stake in Egypt, home to one of the world’s oldest
Christian communities, is to prevent a repeat of what happened in Iraq
in the years that followed the 2003 ouster of dictator Saddam Hussein,
when militants of al-Qaida – the IS forerunner in Iraq – systematically
targeted the country’s ancient Christian minority and forced many to
flee.
Pope Tawadros II, the spiritual leader of Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox
Christians, is a close el-Sissi ally who has tirelessly advocated
Muslim-Christian harmony. “Egyptians are united in pain and in joy,” he
told Francis on Friday. The two leaders signed a document under which
the Copts will recognise Catholic baptisms as valid.
After Mass on Saturday, Francis meets with Catholic priests and seminarians before returning to Rome.
