Why did the Pope decide to visit Jerusalem? What are the implications of this visit? This question has become sort of riddles and puzzles in Egypt after he assured several times that he won’t visit Jerusalem unless he was accompanied with Sheikh Al-Azhar. However, we suddenly found him in Jerusalem to attend the funeral of Coptic Bishop of Jerusalem. Of course he has some good reasons to do the visit at that time, but this visit comes by leader of the Coptic Church that prevents its people from such visit!
In fact, this visit is a historic step that corrects a wrong political decision that was taken by the church. It was sort of a divine will that is hard to be explained. Such visit may come to support the Palestinian people that are suffering under the Israeli occupation.
Some people claim that such visit comes against wisdom which was laid by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III to prohibit visiting Jerusalem. They should know that millions of Christians all over the world visit Jerusalem including Pope of the Vatican. Such decision to ban the visit was not wisdom, but an authoritarian political decision. I tell the provoking media that patriotism of the Coptic Church is unquestionable. Your claim that such visit shall incite sectarian strife is nonsense.
Visiting the holy land is a right for all Christians in the world including the Coptic Christians in Egypt. For example, we find many Iranians pilgrims visiting the holy land of Saudi Arabia despite political discord between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Dr. Ali Gomaa, former Egyptian Mufti has visited Jerusalem as well as thousands of Copts. Such visit comes to financially and politically support the Palestinian people above all. It comes to support the prisoner and not the jailer like the Palestinian president told the Pope. Such visit of Pope Tawadros to Jerusalem led several Muslim Scholars to discuss the legitimacy of the visit Jerusalem for Muslims! I believe that several positive outcomes are to come.
