Visit to Jerusalem 'duty': Pope Tawadros
Fri, 27/11/2015 - 17:50 Al-Masry Al-Youm
MENA
http://www.egyptindependent.com//news/visit-jerusalem-duty-pope-tawadros

Pope Tawadros said his recent visit to Jerusalem was part of his duty to
offer condolences following the death of Bishop Abraham, the Archbishop of
Jerusalem and the Near East who died on Wednesday.

"It was the duty of the Coptic Orthodox Church to send a delegation of
bishops, priests and deacons, including me, to attend the funeral of the
revered pontiff and give him a farewell to his final resting place," said
Tawadros.

The head of Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church traveled to Jerusalem Thursday to
attend the funeral of the holy city’s archbishop, a move that breaks with a
longtime ban maintained by the church on visiting the city before the end of
Israeli occupation.

Tawadros' visit is the first by a head of the Egyptian Church since 1967 as
his predecessor, Pope Shenouda III, had maintained a ban on visiting the
holy city while it is still under Israeli occupation. Shenouda had said he
disapproved of pilgrimage trips by a number of Copts over the past years,
which defied the church's ban.

Meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo earlier this
month, Tawadros reportedly expressed hope that he would be able to visit
Jerusalem once “diplomatic efforts lead to a drastic solution to the
Palestinian issue.”

Egypt’s former Grand Islamic Mufti Ali Gomaa also sparked an uproar when
visiting the city in 2012.

Sergius Sergius, Undersecretary of the Patriarchate of St. Mark, told MENA
Thursday Tawadros' visit to Jerusalem was exceptional and does not mean to
break the ban maintained by the church on visiting the city before the end
of Israeli occupation.

He added that Tawadros had a strong relation with Abraham since the latter
was a monk with the Saint Bishoy Monastery in Wadi Natrun in Egypt where
Tawadros was his student.

Tawadros has stressed more than once since his papacy in 2012 that the
church would stick to his predecessor's travel ban, Sergius said. He added
that Tawadros told Palestinian President Abbas he would only visit Jerusalem
with the Al-Azhar grand sheikh.

Sergius called on media to not overreact to the visit, which is a personal
visit by the pope.

Chairman of Karama Party Mohamed Samy defended Tawadros' visit, saying it is
an exceptional visit for religious reasons. During a phone interview on
Mehwar channel Thursday, he said the visit did not break the travel ban
imposed by Shenouda.

Emad Gad, MP and deputy head of Al-Ahram Center for Strategic Studies, said
that the pope's visit to Jerusalem was important to build bridges to an Arab
country suffering under occupation and to raise the morales of Palestinians,
given the high stature of the pope in the Arab world.

Gad said he expects Islamists to attack Tawadros over the visit, stressing
that people should not give attention to them.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm