Pope Tawadros II paid today a surprise visit to Mar-Mina Monastery in Maryut, some 80km southwest Alexandria, to check on conditions there, since the monastery had received recent threats of an imminent attack
Pope Tawadros II paid today a surprise visit to Mar-Mina Monastery in Maryut, some 80km southwest Alexandria, to check on conditions there, since the monastery had received recent threats of an imminent attack.
The threats aroused the anger of the Alexandrian community—Muslim
and Coptic alike. The monastery is for them not only a Christian place of worship, but also a place where they love to go for blessings and a cheerful time. The
monastery is also strongly engaged in social and community service, and it serves all indiscriminately, Muslims and Christians. It has cultivated warm, cordial ties with the desert dwellers in the vicinity. So it was shocking for people in the Alexandria area to hear the monastery was targeted.
The abbot, Anba Kyrillos, warmly welcomed the Pope whose visit was a source of great joy and comfort to the monks. It is among the very few times throughout the last six weeks that the Pope has broken his retreat at the Western Desert monastery of Anba Bishoi.
The photo depicts Pope Tawadros in a memorial shot with the members of the armed security who were dispatched by the authorities to guard the monastery.
Watani International
18 August 2013