On Saturday, January 8, 2011, His Holiness Pope Shenouda III received the Reverend Dr. Olav Fykse Tvelt, the General Secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), and other visitors from the organization’s Geneva offices to offer personal condolences in response to the New Year’s Eve terrorist attack on the Saints’ Coptic Orthodox Church in Alexandria.
The esteemed visitors expressed sympathy, support and the continued prayers of all WCC member churches to His Holiness and the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt.
Dr. Tvelt was inspired by the homily on love and peace that His Holiness delivered ex cathedra during the Divine Liturgy on the Eve of the Feast of the Nativity. “It is encouraging to see how his message inspired both Christians and Muslims to stand together against violence and attempts at dividing the people” Tveit said. “Pope Shenouda demonstrates that when spiritual leadership is done well, it can have tremendous influence in making peace.”
