Addressing Coptic Patriarch Tawadros II, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania prayed that peace may prevail over violence and that religion may be a sign of life and mutual understanding among humans.
At least two gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire outside a Coptic church south of Cairo on Friday, killing at least nine people in the latest attack on the country’s Christian minority.
The attack happened at the Mar Mina church in the Helwan City district on the capital’s southern outskirts.
Patriarch Daniel’s message of compassion and solidarity with the Egyptian people reads:
Bucharest, 30 December 2017
His Holiness TAWADROS II,
Pope and Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church
Your Holiness,
We have learned with sorrow and concern about the terrorist attack perpetrated on Friday, 29 December 2017, near the Coptic Christian church of Mar Mina in Cairo, in which nine people were killed and others injured.
On behalf of the hierarchs, clergy and faithful of the Romanian Orthodox Church, we convey our feelings of compassion to the families of those massacred or wounded, and pray for the souls of the deaceased, so that Christ the Crucified and Risen Lord rest their souls in the light of His love.
In these moments of deep grief, we express our solidarity with the Coptic Orthodox Church and pray that peace will replace violence, and religion should not be a sign of death, but of life and understanding between human beings.
With esteem and love in Christ the Lord,
† DANIEL
Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church
Photo Credit: Basilica.ro Archive
