The Christmas Eve feast coupled with its delicious aromas is a celebration that has been lacking in recent years opened the way to the Orthodox Christmas in Egypt, although in this resort the repast had satisfied Christians tourists.
Midnight Mass in Abbasseyah Cathedral, Cairo was officiated by Pope Shenouda III, head of the Coptic Orthodox Church in that country, who made a call for unity among all Egyptians regardless of their religious beliefs, but also referred to the deaths of the faithful in clashes during 2011.
In a less conciliatory tone, much of the audience began chanting, down with the military government, down with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, in the presence of generals invited as guests and blamed as responsible for the repression of civilians.
Shenouda III mentioned the six Coptic and Muslim guards shot dead on Jan 6, 2010 at the end of a similar mass in Qena province, and the bombing on Jan 1, 2011 of two churches from Alexandria that left 23 dead and 90 injured.
As well, included among the martyrs of the so called Egyptian revolution were those devotees of Christ massacred by the Army and Muslim extremists on Oct 9 in the Maspero district of the capital, where 27 Copts died.
A message of peaceful coexistence and optimism was officially transmitted by the Russian cleric on Saturday in El-Samaeyeen Cathedral (El Divino), main cult center for many tourists coming from Russia who vacation in Sharm El-Sheikh.
Amid the political vicissitudes lived by this Arab nation since Hosni Mubarak handed over power to a Military Junta on Feb 11, 2011, the Coptic Church seeks a cordial relationship with other religious nominations and extended invitations to all.
For the first time in history, leaders from the Muslim Brotherhood attended and for the first time there was a large police deployment to protect the church from possible terrorist attacks, because popular fear is evident.
The first Coptic Christmas after the overthrow of Mubarak went on, however, in an atmosphere of calm and fear, but with no violent incidents, nor social nor political tension, very different from last year.
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