Pope Tawadros II leads Orthodox Easter Mass
SHOTLIST
++NIGHT SHOTS++
1. Wide exterior of Saint Mark's Cathedral (the main Coptic church) in Cairo
2. Pan right of United States Ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson arriving at the cathedral
3. Wide of representatives of the Egyptian Ministry of Interior arriving
4. Pan right of Pope Tawadros II, head of Egypt's Coptic Christians (official title: Coptic Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of Saint Mark), arriving for the Mass
5. Pan right from people attending the Mass to Pope Tawadros II and other members of the clergy during the Mass
6. Close of Pope Tawadros II during the prayers
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Dr. Emad Gad, Coptic Christian member of dissolved parliament and Deputy Director of Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic
Studies:
"Celebrating Coptic Easter is an Egyptian tradition and I think that sharing (good) wishes between Muslims and Christians is the best way to respond to those who say that wishing Christians well for their celebrations is forbidden by Islamic law."
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Amr Moussa, Member of the National Salvation Front (opposition coalition), and former Secretary-General of the Arab League:
"My message is that Egypt is going through a crisis and that it needs us all, without any discrimination or confrontation (between Muslims and Christians). Egypt is going through a hard time and we must all be united in order for us to get through this hard time."
9. Exterior of Saint Mark's Cathedral
STORYLINE
Thousands of Egyptian Christians marked Coptic Easter on Saturday at the same church in Cairo that was the site of sectarian clashes weeks earlier.
Christian worshippers, as well as Muslim figures opposed to President Mohammed Morsi, gathered at Saint Mark's Cathedral in Cairo for the evening mass, which lasts several hours.
It was the first Easter Mass to be led by Pope Tawadros II as head of Egypt's Coptic Church.
High-ranking police officials were among the guests.
Dr. Emad Gad, a Coptic Christian member of Egypt's dissolved parliament, said that the Easter celebration was an opportunity to show that "sharing (good) wishes between Muslims and Christians is the best way to respond to those who say that wishing Christians well for their celebrations is forbidden by Islamic law."
Former Secretary-General of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, who is a member of the opposition coalition, the National Salvation Front also attended the service.
"My message is that Egypt is going through a crisis and that it needs us all, without any discrimination or confrontation," he said.
In April Pope Tawadros II criticised Morsi, an Islamist, for not protecting the cathedral, which serves as the papal seat, when policemen fired tear gas into the cathedral's grounds during clashes between Christians inside and a Muslim crowd outside.
One person was killed in the violence.
The clashes raised tempers in an already tense political atmosphere, as workers shut down the country's trains in a strike over wages, and a dispute over the nation's chief prosecutor entered a new phase.
Egypt's Orthodox Coptic Christians make up 10 percent of the country's 90 (m) million people.
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