Before the Angelus prayer at the end of Palm Sunday Mass, Pope Francis wanted to remember the victims of terrorism, in particular, those from the Stockholm truck attack.
POPE FRANCIS
'To Christ, who enters the Passion today, and to the Blessed Virgin, we entrust the victims of the terrorist attack last Friday in Stockholm, as well as those who are still suffering from war, the disaster of humanity.'
Unfortunately, while the Palm Sunday ceremony was taking place, another attack took place in a Coptic church in Egypt, in the city of Tanta, 56 miles north of Cairo.
The pope remembered the victims and asked for the conversion of terrorists and those who sell weapons.
POPE FRANCIS
'We pray for the victims of the attack that took place today, this morning, in Cairo, in a Coptic church. May the Lord convert the hearts of people who sow terror, violence and death, and also the hearts of those who make and sell guns.'
In this attack in the city of Tanta, 28 people died. Terror struck the Christians of Egypt a few hours later when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance to another parish in Alexandria where the Coptic Pope Theodore II was celebrating a service. While he was unharmed, 16 people died. In total, there are more than 100 people injured and the president has decreed a state of emergency for the next three months.
In just 20 days, Pope Francis will visit Egypt to send a message of unity with Islam in the face of terrorism.
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