WASHINGTON, January 6, 2012 (AFP)
WASHINGTON, January 6, 2012 (AFP)
US President Barack Obama called Friday for the protection of Coptics and other minorities as the Christian group celebrated its first post-revolution Christmas in Egypt.
“As events in Egypt and elsewhere have illustrated… the protection of people of all faiths, and the ability to worship as you choose are critical to a peaceful, inclusive and thriving society,” Obama said in a statement on the celebration of Coptic Christmas.
The statement said Obama and his wife Michelle “wish Coptic Orthodox Christians in the United States and around the world a blessed and joyous Christmas.”
Obama added,”I want to reaffirm the commitment of the United States to work for the protection of Christian and other religious minorities around the world.”
The comments came as a massive plan to protect Egyptian churches swung into action ahead of the Christmas eve mass lead by Pope Shenuda III in Cairo’s Abbassiya Cathedral, with Islamist leaders attending for the first time.
The measures come a year after more than 20 people were killed in an apparent suicide bombing targeting a church in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria. In 2010, six Copts were killed as they emerged from a Christmas eve mass in southern Egypt.
Muslim and Christian activists have planned candle light vigils outside several churches under the slogan “We all celebrate together as Egyptians.”
The Copts, which represent some six to 10 percent of Egypt’s population, follow their own ancient calendar under which Christmas Day falls on January 7.
