Pope Tawadros leads Christmas mass at Cathedral of Nativity of Christ

CAIRO – 6 January 2023:  Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark Diocese led on Friday the Christmas mass at the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ in the New Administrative Capital with the participation of a number of bishops, priests and monks.

Senior state officials and governors also attended the mass along with a number of diplomats, MPs, senators and public figures.

The pope made his way toward the main altar, processing with hundreds of concelebrants as the sounds of the Christmas hymns echoed inside the cathedral.

The Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ is a Coptic Orthodox cathedral in the New Administrative Capital, Egypt, some 45 km east of Cairo. It was commissioned by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and inaugurated on January, 6, 2019, by him and Pope Tawadros. It is the largest church in the Middle East, and the largest Oriental Orthodox church in the world by area.

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has congratulated people on Christmas, stressing that the country will never deviate from coexistence and belief in the national unity.

In a social media post on Friday, Sisi said that such “pleasant occasion brings us together on the love of the homeland and affirms that we are on the path of citizenship”.

“We will never deviate from coexistence and genuine belief in the unity of the homeland and human community,” the president stated.

“On this occasion, I invite you to be inspired by the pleasant meanings established by the Lord Christ, peace be upon him, of love, tolerance, forgiveness, and benevolence,” Sisi stated.

“May you be blessed every year with all goodness and peace may Egypt always and forever live in safety and security,” the president added.