CAIRO, EGYPT – Despite what they say in Hollywood, death does not take a holiday.
And that’s particularly true when Muslims and Christians go at it in the Middle East. Amateur video shot in Cairo supposedly shows a crowd of Muslims chanting ‘God is Great’ during an attack on the Coptic cathedral there.
Sunday was a special day for Coptic Christians, falling in the middle of Great Lent, and on the Feast of the Annunciation, the day tradition says the archangel Gabriel met with the Virgin Mary to see if she would be okay with bearing the Son of God.
Violence marred this year’s observances when a Muslim mob tried to get inside the cathedral of St. Mark to disrupt funerals for four Copts killed Saturday in a shootout with Muslims.
At one point, Egyptian police fired tear gas inside the cathedral, which is the seat of the Coptic pope, much like Saint Peter’s Basilica is the seat for the Catholic pope.
Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi placed a phone call to Pope Tawadros, telling the pope that he considers the violence as attacks on himself. Easy to say when you`re not the one getting tear-gassed.
