Pope Francis will visit Egypt despite blasts

CAIRO – 10 April 2017: Pope Francis’s scheduled visit to Egypt on 28-29 April is as is despite the deadly blasts in two Coptic Churches on Palm Sunday that killed at least 45 people, a Vatican official said.

"There is no doubt the Holy Father will maintain his offer to go to Egypt", Monsignor Angelo Becciu, the Holy See's number three, said in an interview published in the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera on Monday, AFP reported.

"What happened caused disorder and tremendous suffering, but it cannot stop the pope's mission of peace," he added.

Becciu, who will accompany the pontiff to Egypt, said that Egypt has ensured that the visit will be handled in the best way possible, “so we will go confidently”.

Pope Francis has condemned the deadly attacks, which were claimed by ISIS, and offered his condolences to Pope Tawadros II, head of the Coptic Church, and to the Egyptian people.

The visit is in response to an invitation extended by President Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi, who met the Pope when he visited the Vatican in late 2014.

The pontiff is set to meet Sisi, Pope Tawadros II and Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar.

Francis will become the second Roman Catholic pope to visit Egypt, following John Paul II's historic trip here in February 2000.