CAIRO: Millions of Egypt’s Copts have been forced to watch Christmas Mass from their homes amid strict precautionary measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Coptic Orthodox churches celebrated Christmas on Wednesday night, but a ban on public attendance at religious festivals meant that Egypt’s streets failed to witness the usual celebrations.
The church also adopted stringent preventive measures to ensure the safety of worshippers after many priests became infected with the virus.
The latest curbs follow a dramatic rise in cases amid end-of-year festivals, which led to a ban on public attendance at Mass and limits on the number of religious officials performing ceremonies.
Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the Saint Mark Episcopate, presided over the Christmas Mass from the Monastery of Saint Pishoy in Wadi El Natrun, Beheira Governorate, while the Evangelical Church organized its own official Christmas celebration with prayers.
Coptic satellite channels and Egyptian TV broadcast the Mass live, giving Copts the chance to witness the event from home following the cancelation of the Easter Day celebrations last April.
However, the usual well-wishers’ reception was dropped, public attendance was halted at all churches in Cairo and Alexandria, and the role of priests limited elsewhere.
Several monasteries canceled visits, while prayers were restricted to monks. Coptic church cemeteries also prohibited visits during Christmas.
A number of Coptic monasteries, including the Monastery of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Assiut Governorate in Upper Egypt, closed their doors to visitors.
The Monastery of Saint Anthony in the Red Sea mountains said that it will refuse visitors until further notice.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi congratulated Pope Tawadros II and the entire Egyptian population on the occasion of Christmas.
“I enjoy being present at the celebration in the cathedral every year to congratulate the Coptic brothers, but the coronavirus prevented us from attending the Christmas Mass this year,” El-Sisi said.
Egypt’s Copts celebrate Christmas at home
https://arab.news/zcd7z
Egypt’s Copts celebrate Christmas at home
- Coptic Orthodox churches celebrated Christmas on Wednesday night
- A ban on public attendance at religious festivals meant that Egypt’s streets failed to witness the usual celebrations
Hezbollah accepts resignation of senior security official Wafiq Safa amid restructuring
- Safa survived an Israeli assassination attempt in October 2024
- A source said “the resignation and its acceptance were part of an internal restructuring move“
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Hezbollah accepted the resignation of senior security official Wafiq Safa on Friday, the first time an official of his rank has stepped down, sources familiar with the group’s thinking told Reuters.
Safa, who heads Hezbollah’s liaison and coordination unit responsible for working with Lebanese security agencies, survived an Israeli assassination attempt in October 2024.
A source said “the resignation and its acceptance were part of an internal restructuring move” following losses Hezbollah sustained in last year’s war with Israel, adding that southern commander Hussein Abdullah was appointed to replace Safa.
Israel and Lebanon agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire in 2024 to end more than a year of cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah, which had culminated in Israeli strikes that severely weakened the Iran-backed militant group. Since then, the sides have traded accusations of ceasefire violations.
Lebanon has faced growing pressure from the US and Israel to disarm Hezbollah, and its leaders fear that Israel could dramatically escalate strikes across the battered country to push Lebanon’s leaders to confiscate Hezbollah’s arsenal more quickly.
Hezbollah has fought numerous conflicts with Israel since it was founded by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982. It kept its arms after the end of Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war, using them against Israeli troops who occupied the south until 2000.
Safa, whom Middle East media reports said was born in 1960, oversaw negotiations that led to a 2008 deal in which Hezbollah exchanged the bodies of Israeli soldiers captured in 2006 for Lebanese prisoners in Israel. The 2006 incident triggered a 34-day war with Israel.
