AFRICA/EGYPT - Egyptian Catholics commemorate the start of the fifth year of the Pontificate of Benedict XVI

Cairo (Agenzia Fides)- Egyptian Catholics are preparing to celebrate the beginning of the fifth year of the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI with various ceremonies. On June 25 a special Mass will be celebrated at Alexandria (225 km north east of Cairo, on the Mediterranean coast), at the Cathedral dedicated to St Catherine. The Mass will be presided by Bishop Makarios Tawfik, Copt Catholic Bishop of Ismaelia, in the presence of Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, Apostolic Nuncio in Egypt. The Mass will be followed by a moment of spiritual recollection animated by four different choirs.
On June 27 in Cairo a special Mass will be celebrated in the Chaldean Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Fatima, presided by Bishop Youssef Ibrahim Sarraf, Bishop of Chaldean Catholics in Egypt, in the presence of the Nuncio.
These celebrations draw many participants civic authorities and local people, anxious to express their love and gratitude to His Holiness. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 22/6/2009 righe 17 parole 172)