A day of worship in the Coptic Christian churches in Tanta and Alexandria was quickly turned to a day of loss and massive destruction.
The first attack occurred in Tanta, at a Palm Sunday Mass, at around 9:30 am. There has been no direct claim of responsibility for the attack, which killed 25 people and injured 60 others, according to local television reports.
More pics from St. George's Church Explosion in north #Cairo, Egypt. pic.twitter.com/SqfRZ7FcoM via @RudawEnglish
— ARnews 1936 (@ARnews1936) April 9, 2017
The seceding attack in Alexandria came just several hours later, killing 6 and injuring countless more. This attack has been reported as a suicide bombing, whereas the Tanta bombing is believed to have been caused by a device planted on church grounds.
Pope Francis, who received word of the bombing as he marked Palm Sunday in St. Peter’s Square, stated ‘‘deep condolences to my brother, Pope Tawadros II, the Coptic church and all of the dear Egyptian nation.’’ The Pope is to visit Egypt in just a few weeks.
Grand Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, head of Egypt’s leading center of learning in Sunni Islam (Al-Azhar), condemned the attack as a ‘‘despicable terrorist bombing that targeted the lives of innocents.’’
Palm Sunday mass is used to reflect on the Passion of Christ, his trial and crucifixion.
Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” –Matthew 27: 45-46
It is often questioned how someone revered as the Son of God would not have known his fate, and why would such a loving and powerful God damn his son to a treacherous death? It is also quite relevant to any suffering bestowed upon people of the Church, and applied to the state of world affairs today.
Why is there such great unrest? Why do we bomb and terrorize our the homes of our neighbors without offering them anywhere else to go? Why has the world become such a God foresaken place?
The solution to violent oppression and institutionalized hate and desensitized aggression is not something that all people will find in Churches, but the ideology of loving thy neighbor is a universal one, one that can in fact be applied to international relations and creating a peaceful and hopeful future. Love thy neighbor; thy neighbors in Syria, thy neighbors in churches, in mosques, in Flint, in Somalia, thy universal neighbor. Do not create borders to confine the extent to which love and charity is received, and to whom that love will reach.
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