Egyptian Church says stance against visiting Al-Quds unchanged

The Coptic Orthodox Church stressed Friday that its stance against visits to the occupied city of Al Quds has not changed.

Spokesman for the Church Paulus Halim said the Church will not reconsider its stance unless all Muslims and Christians decide to go so.

He made it clear that Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria and Patriarch of Saint Mark Diocese's visit to Al Quds was to attend the funeral service of Anba Abraham, the Coptic Orthodox Metropolitan Arcbishop of Jerusalem and the Near East, who died at the age of 73 on Wednesday.

Politics was not a factor here, Halim said, stressing that all actions of the Church are for pastoral and national reasons.

He added that Pope Tawadros was one of the disciples of Anba Abraham at Bishoy Monastery in Wadi Natrun and he had a good relationship with the deceased. Anba Abraham had demanded to be buried in Al Quds.

The visit does not mean a reverse in the decision to ban travel to Al Quds under Israeli occupation, the Church said.

The visit by Tawadros, who arrived in Al Quds earlier in the day, is the first by an Egyptian pontiff to the holy city since the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories in 1967.

Sources: MENA