At his weekly general audience in Rome, Pope Francis on Wednesday called on God to safeguard Egypt, the Middle East and the entire world from the scourge of terrorism, Vatican Radio reported.
Egypt is “a land where Saint Joseph, the Virgin Mary and the Baby Jesus, as well as many prophets lived: a land that has been blessed with the precious blood of martyrs spilt throughout the centuries,” Vatican Radio quoted Francis as saying.
Describing Egypt as "a land of cohabitation and hospitality; a land of encounter, of history and of civilization," Francis sent a blessing to Egyptians and urged God "to protect the nation, the Middle East and the whole world from all kinds of terrorism and from evil," Vatican Radio reported.
Francis had a special greeting for an Egyptian delegation led by tourism minister Yahya Rashed that was in Rome promote a new pilgrimage in the footsteps of the Holy Family’s biblical flight to Egypt that will begin next year.
The pilgrimage route comes amid efforts by Egypt's government to breathe new life into the tourism sector and to promote the Holy Family in Egypt route as an important pilgrimage destination following the landmark visit by Francis visit to the terrorism-hit country in April.
The pilgrimage route takes pilgrims to eight different places of significance to the Holy Family during its flight from Herod’s persecution and return to the Holy Land, Vatican Radio said.
The route starts in the city of al-Arish (in North Sinai), crosses to the Eastern Delta of the Nile, and reaches Wadi Natroun, home to four important Coptic monasteries, according to Vatican Radio.
The planned pilgrimages also represent the government support for Egypt's Coptic Christian minority, which make up around 10 percent of the population and have long complained of discrimination and faced increasing violence from Islamic fundamentalist groups.
