Nearly 6,000 Egyptian Coptic Christians arrived in Jerusalem to attend the annual Holy Fire ceremony at Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulcher during the Easter celebrations, Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz reports. After Coptic Church Pope Tawadros II last year practically revoked a ban on travelling to the city imposed by his predecessor in the wake of the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, the number of Coptic pilgrims travelling to Israel during Easter has significantly increased. In what was described as an “exceptional trip” by the spokesperson for the Coptic Church, the Pope visited Jerusalem in November 2015 to lead funeral prayers for Bishop Abraham, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Jerusalem and the Near East. Subsequent to his visit, Pope Tawadros was accused of normalizing relations with Israel and undermining the struggle for Palestinian rights. He responded by saying that his visit only aimed at paying his respects and that the Church maintains its ban on Coptic Christians to travel to Jerusalem. “We will not visit Jerusalem unless our Muslim brothers are with us. In the 1967 war and after the 1973 victory and the peace treaty as well as the church’s stance in this…
Thousands of Egyptian Copts Flock to Jerusalem for Holy Fire Ceremony
May 1, 2016
