Coptic Pope set to arrive in Israel on rare visit

Spokesman says Tawadros will attend funeral of Archbishop Anba Abraham, head of Copts in Holy Land, ‘and nothing more’

By AFP 26 November 2015, 10:28 pm

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Egypt's Coptic Pope Tawadros II speaks from the historic al-Muharraq Monastery, February 5, 2013. (AP/Khalil Hamra)

Egypt’s Coptic Pope Tawadros II left for Jerusalem on Thursday for the funeral of a senior cleric, the first visit by the head of Coptic Christians in decades, a church spokesman said.

He will attend the funeral of Archbishop Anba Abraham, the head of the Coptic Church in the Holy Land, who died on Wednesday at the age of 73.

Egyptian Copts were forbidden from visiting Israel by their late Pope Shenouda III in protest at Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem.

Shenouda passed away in 2012 after leading the ancient orthodox church for 40 years.

“The visit is to attend the funeral and nothing more,” church spokesman Boulos Halim told AFP.

“The position of the church remains unchanged, which is not going to Jerusalem without all our Egyptian (Muslim) brothers.”

Despite the ban, hundreds of Egyptian Copts have visited Israel over the past few years during Easter.

Tawadros II was elected in 2012 when he was 59 years old. He was previously an aide to his predecessor Shenouda III, replacing him when he died earlier this year after 40 years at the helm of the church.