Catholic Holy Father Pope Francis on Sunday condemned bomb attacks on two Coptic churches which left at least 45 dead in Egypt.
The pontiff who is due to visit Egypt later this month expressed his “deepest condolences” to all Egyptians and to the head of the Coptic Church, who is due to be one of his hosts.
In Tanta and in Alexandria, church services on Sunday ended in carnage.
At least 27 people died and nearly 80 were injured in bomb explosion in Egypt’s northern Nile Delta city of Tanta while local media quoting the interior ministry said 18 people also died and some 40 were injured outside St Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral of Alexandria.
Egypt has declared state of emergency following the attacks.
Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the attacks and also said it was behind the deadly bombing in December of Cairo’s largest Coptic cathedral.
Vatican has announced earlier this month that Pope Francis will pay an official visit to the majority Muslim nation during the final week of April.
The North African nation hopes the visit will cement the “spirit of tolerance and dialogue” between followers of different faiths and further isolate extremism and terrorism.
Note that Coptic Christians make up 10 percent of Egypt’s population and are often the targets of Islamic extremism.
On December 11, the Coptic cathedral in Cairo was bombed, leaving 25 people dead.
Coptic Christians make up 10 percent of Egypt’s population, and are often the targets of Islamic extremism.