Copts congregate at cathedral ahead of victims' funeral

10 Oct 2011

Thousands of Copts protested against the ruling military council on Monday, after violence Sunday night left 24 killed during a march, mostly of Copts, to the Maspiro state TV building area.

At the St. Mark of Alexandria Coptic Cathedral, scores of Copts congregated ahead of an anticipated funeral of the deceased victims from the previous night's violence.

Copts were set to march on Sunday afternoon from the Shubra neighborhood to the Maspiro area to protest attacks against them, especially after a church in Aswan was attacked by Muslims who said that it didn't have permission to build a dome.

Last week, the military forcibly dispersed a Coptic protest and was filmed agressively beating and dragging a protester on the ground. 

At the cathedral, protesters chanted, "Oh Jesus, the Copt is hurt."

Pope Shenouda, who heads the Coptic Orthodox church, was seen at the cathedral in what seemed to be an attempt to calm down the angry crowd. 

He had just gone out of a meeting with the Holy Synod, the highest authority in the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox church. The synod issued a statement condemning the violence but did not address the military council, which Copts believe has incited violence against them, particularly through state TV coverage of the violence. 

"We don't forget that there are strangers among our children who commit mistakes that get attributed to us. Copts feel their problems are reproducing without accountability and justice or any radical solutions," the Holy Synod said.

The synod called on Christians to pray and fast for three days as of Tuesday.

Public figures showed up at the cathedral, including Coptic business tycoon Naguib Sawiris, lawyer Nasser Amin and politician Amr Hamzawy.