Coptic Christians attend Christmas Eve Mass in Cairo

Egypt’s Coptic Christians gathered on Friday night time to attend Mass on Christmas Eve at Saint Stephen Coptic Orthodox Church praying for peace and prosperity for the approaching yr amid grave uncertainty concerning the nation’s economic system.

“ We want to obtain financial stability within the nation and that we will reap the fruits of all of the efforts that we’ve got been via by the tip of the yr. It’s a robust starting of the yr however hopefully it’ll be a fruitful yr for us and for the nation,” shares Maged Mourad, Coptic Orthodox worshipper. 

Inflation within the nation reached an annual price of above 18% in November.

The Egyptian pound has shriveled in worth towards the US greenback, hitting a brand new low earlier this week because the nation faces a scarcity of overseas foreign money spurred by the Russian led warfare in Ukraine

“The factor we want for essentially the most is world peace. Final yr began very well however because of the many challenges of this era we hope for peace and in every single place there’s a warfare or famine it impacts the entire world so we want for higher peace this yr and we hope for our nation to take sooner steps ahead,” needs Mina Magdy, fellow coptic christian. 

Within the predominantly Muslim nation, Coptic Christians make up roughly 10% of the 104 million residents and face varied restrictions together with interfaith marriages and church constructing.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi attended a Coptic Christmas Eve service, in a public act of inter-religious solidarity.