Al-Bawaba News: Pope Francis leads open-air mass in Cairo

Pope Francis leads open-air mass in Cairo

Saturday 29-04-2017 - 10:33 AM

RTE & AP

Update 2

Pope Francis left the military-run stadium in Cairo where he led Mass for some 15,000 Egyptian Catholics on the second and final day of a historic visit to Egypt.

Cairo - Pope Francis is leading Mass at a military-run stadium in Cairo with at least 10,000 Egyptian Catholics in attendance amid tight security, including helicopters hovering over the suburban facility.

The Saturday Mass is being held on the second and final day of a historic visit to Egypt by the Catholic pontiff, who came to the Muslim majority Arab nation to forge a united Christian-Muslim front against religious militancy and lift the spirits of Egypt's Christians after a spate of deadly attacks against their churches in December and earlier this month.

The atmosphere at the June 30 stadium was cheerful, with members of the congregation swaying to hymns sung by church choirs and waving Egyptian and Vatican flags. Others held yellow balloons, the color of the Vatican flag.

Pope Francis waves as he arrives to celebrate Mass - AP /Gregorio Borgia

Thousands of Egyptian Catholics waving the colors of the Vatican flag gathered amid tight security in a Cairo stadium where Pope Francis was to lead mass.

Crowds of pilgrims poured out of buses into the stadium in the early hours of the morning, eager to see the Argentine pontiff in the flesh for the first time.

Policemen and republican guards, deployed in great numbers, checked cars and buses outside the stadium, while helicopters flew overhead.