His Holiness Pope Shenouda III received two warm letters from the His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, the Chairman of the Department of External Relations within the Russian Orthodox Church expressing the solidarity of the latter with Copts worldwide after the heinous New Year’s Eve terrorist attack at the Saints’ Church in Alexandria that left at least 28 dead and more than 90 wounded.
In his letter, Patriarch Kirill noted how “[t]he faithful of the Russian Orthodox Church share the suffering of Coptic Christians” while offering prayers for “peace and civil accord in Egypt and for the consolation of those who grieve.”
Metropolitan Hilarion expressed his “deep sorrow” in his letter upon hearing about the terrorist attack. “The confrontation that the terrorists mean to enkindle by their actions brings nothing but grief, tears and suffering and threatens the human race with self-destruction.” His Eminence extended his sincere condolences and prayers “to the Lord of peace for the salvation of Egyptian Christians and for an end to the enmity and violence.”
