Gov't to celebrate Holy Family’s journey to Egypt

CAIRO – 30 May 2018: Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria and Patriarch of Saint Mark will celebrate the Holy Family’s journey on June 1 in the Coptic Museum of Old Cairo.

Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and some Arab and foreign ambassadors will be attending the ceremony with a number of officials, as well as seven ministers and five governors.

The ceremony will begin with a speech by historian and intellectual Wassim al-Sisi, followed by Minister of Antiquities Khaled Anani, a speech by Minister of Tourism Rania Al-Mashat, and a speech by Mustafa El-Feki, director of Bibliotheca Alexandrina.

Mona Zaky, professor of Strategic Thought Planning, said that June 1 is the date of the beginning of the Holy Family’s visit to Egypt. This date deserves a national holiday because it reflects the greatness of Egypt that protected the Holy Family and provided safety when they were being chased.

The Holy Family came from Palestine to Egypt via the Arish road and arrived in Old Egypt, and then they moved to Upper Egypt. They hid there for a while and then returned to the north, passing through the Natroun Valley, and then continued their way back through Sinai to Palestine.

Pope Francis visited Egypt later in April 2017, carried out mass and acknowledged the Holy Family’s journey in Egypt as an official Christian pilgrimage. This announcement puts the Holy Family tour on equal footing to Fatima in Portugal, suggesting that thousands of Christian tourists would visit Egypt.