Pope Tawadros II leading the first ordination mass at the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ in the New Administrative Capital (photo courtesy of the Coptic Orthodox Church's official Spox)
Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II led on Sunday morning the first ordination mass in the New Administrative Capital’s Nativity of Christ Cathedral, one of the world’s largest churches.
During the mass, which was held amid strict precautionary measures against the coronavirus, Pope Tawadros II ordained seven bishops.
The mass also witnessed the enthronement of two other bishops: bishop-general Anba Macarius to lead the Diocese of Minya; and bishop-general Anba Sawiris to head the Ava Thomas Monastery and Mar Boktor Monastery in Menoufia.
Pope Tawadros II said in his speech that “this is the first time for most of the members of the Holy Synod to attend an ordination, especially in this [Nativity of Christ] cathedral.”
The pope extended his thanks to President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and the government for establishing such a massive cathedral and hailed the policemen for securing the rituals.
The Nativity of Christ Cathedral is considered the largest church in the Middle East, with a capacity to accommodate 8,200 worshipers.
Pope Tawadros II led the first mass ever at the Nativity of Christ Cathedral in 2018, which was attended by El-Sisi.
El-Sisi later on officially inaugurated the cathedral in January 2019, along with the massive El-Fattah El-Alim Mosque, which is right beside the cathedral.
Egypt’s Christians number 10 to 15 percent of the country’s 104 million population.
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