Last Friday, 9 June, Pope Tawadros II received at St Mark’s Cathedral in Abbassiya, Cairo, 18 persons from among the family members of the martyrs who lost their lives while on their way to the Western Desert monastery of St Samuel the Confessor in Mount Qalamoun in Minya, some 230km south of Cairo. The group Pope Tawadros received also included Copts who had been injured in the same terrorist attack on the morning of 26 May.
Four vehicles, two buses and two pickup trucks, carrying Copts on their way to the monastery were on the last leg of their journey to the monastery, a lonely unpaved road some 20km long. They were stopped on that path by masked, armed men who had descended from the nearby Abu-Tartour plateau in four-wheel-drive vehicles. The terrorists asked the Copts to deny their faith and, when they refused to do so, shot 28 of them to death and injured 25 others. Ten of the victims were children. Daesh, also known as ISIL or ISIS, claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Friday meeting with Pope Tawadros was an informal, warm-hearted one. The Pope was keen to listen to the stories and words of his guests, seeking reassurance that their physical, spiritual, and psychological health was stable. He assured them that the Church was praying for them and caring for all their needs, and he presented the children with gifts.
Participating in the gathering were Anba Yulius, Bishop-General of the Social Services Bishopric and of Old Cairo churches; Fr Bishoi Charles, Pope Tawadros’s secretary for social services; Fr Boulos Halim, spokesperson for the Coptic Church; and Ashraf Aguib, member of the services office that cares for the families of the martyrs and for the injured.
In its recent meeting earlier this month, the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church decided to assign the date 8 Amshir/15 February every year as a Day for Modern-Age Martyrs, and to establish a special department in the General Bishopric for Social Services to be in charge of caring for the families of the martyrs and confessors, under direct supervision of Pope Tawadros and Anba Yulius.
Watani International
11 June 2017