Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El Sisi wished all Egyptian Copts a Merry Christmas through his official Twitter and Facebook accounts on Monday.
“I extend my sincere congratulations to the Egyptian people on the occasion of Christmas, praying to God to preserve our dear homeland with its coherent national fabric, and to unite our ranks for the good always. Happy New Year,” Sisi posted.
Coptic Orthodox Christians, who make up a substantial majority of all Christians in the country, celebrate Christmas on 7 January, following the Julian calendar.
Tuesday is a public holiday in Egypt.
In the meantime, First Lady Entissar El Sisi, wife of President Sisi greeted too on Monday the Egyptian Copts on Christmas.
On her official social media pages, she expressed best wishes to the Copts and all Egyptians.
Sisi attended on Monday evening the Coptic Christmas Eve celebration held at a new cathedral in the country’s new administrative capital city eastern Cairo.
“As long as we are together, united, we should not be worried, yet we should take care of what is going now around us,” said the Egyptian president in his remarks at the cathedral aired on the state TV.
The Nativity of Christ is said to be the largest in the Middle East region.
“We should always be together,” Sisi said, stressing that Egyptians should not be worried about the tensions in the region.
The Christmas Mass is rarely held outside the main St. Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo.
Copts constitute to about 10 percent of Egypt’s 100-million population and most of Egypt’s Copts belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church, which celebrates Christmas on Jan. 7.
Sisi gave Pope Tawadros II a flower bouquet on behalf of Egyptians, greeting him before leaving the mass. He has been attending the Coptic Christmas mass for the past four years.
Egyptian ministers, MPs and top state officials attended the mass too.
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