VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI called on Egypt on Wednesday to fight "attempts to sabotage" relations between Christians and Muslims after 25 people, mainly Copts, were killed in clashes in Cairo.
Addressing pilgrims during the weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square, the pope expressed his sorrow over the violent clashes between protesters and security forces on Sunday which left more than 300 injured.
The pontiff called for national unity a day after Egypt’s deputy prime minister resigned after the clashes sparked a wave of anger at the ruling military and calls for the premier to quit.
He shared the pain felt "by all Egyptian people, divided by attempts to sabotage the peaceful coexistence" between Muslims and Copts, he said, adding that it was essential to "safeguard" peace "in this transitional phase."
And he said he supported Egyptian civil and religious authorities in their struggle to uphold the peace and protect the rights of minorities.
The pontiff was careful to avoid blaming the government. His plea for Egypt to protect its minorities after a New Year’s Day attack on Copts riled Cairo, which temporarily recalled its ambassador to the Vatican in protest.
Egypt’s Copts are the largest Christian minority community in the Middle East, and one of the oldest. Vatican records show some 165,000 Catholic Copts lived in Egypt in 2010.
The Catholic Copts, who form part of the Church’s eastern rites, are headed by Antonios Naguib, who was consecrated cardinal by the pope last November.
Weakly represented in government, Copts complain that they are sidelined in the community and suffer from very restrictive legislation on building churches, whereas the regime for building mosques is very liberal.
On January 1, 2011 the unclaimed bombing of a Coptic church killed 23 people in Egypt’s second city of Alexandria. In March, 13 people were killed in bloody clashes between Muslims and Copts and another 15 died in clashes in May.
