Pope Tawadros leads his first Easter festivities amidst the ambiguity surrounding the position of the Copts. The transition from the late Orthodox Coptic Pope Shenouda III to Pope Tawadros oversaw the development of a more complex relationship between the church and state. The Copts are saddened by recent sectarian instances such as the Church of Saint Mina and Saint George being set ablaze by Muslims in the village of Sūl, Atfīh in Helwan Governorate in March 2011. In response, new Coptic protests were launched ranging from sit-ins, to sectarian slogans and hostile chants. It was a difficult test for then Pope Shenouda, who at the time supported the January 25 Revolution and the Article II of the Constitution. Under tenure of the Muslim Brotherhood and Pope Tawadros came sectarian violence at Khusūs identical to events at Sūl. The Pope has sent a formal invitation to the presidency in decoding this tangled relationship ('Abd al-Wahāb Sha'bān, al-Wafd, May 4, p. 5). Read original text in Arabic.
