President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi presented Egypt’s apologies to Copts during the celebration of Christmas, January 6, 2016, at St. Mark’s Orthodox Cathedral of Abbassia.

During the period of the Muslim Brotherhood, a dozen Coptic churches were burned. The President committed himself to rebuilding them and erasing the memories of the dictatorship of Mohamed Morsi.

Addressing the Patriarch of all Africa and the seat of St. Mark, Pope Theodoros II of Alexandria, he declared: "On this occasion, I wish to exhort all of you, that nothing separating us. Nothing can hurt us, either economically or politically. Unless we separate, we can overcome anything (...) God created us different, in terms of religion, morals, color, language, custom, tradition, and no one can homogenize us (...) We took too long to repair and renovate the churches that have been burned. This year everything will be completed. Please accept our apologies for what happened. God willing, next year, there will not be a single church or a house that is not rebuilt (...) We will never forget the position that you and the Pope had taken during that period. Thank you to all. Merry Christmas. "

Elected despite 53% abstention and widespread fraud, June 17, 2012, Mohamed Morsi, a dual US-Egyptian national, had committed to organize an open government. However, he quickly imposed a dictatorship in favor of the only the Muslim Brotherhood. Christians were then persecuted, while the shariah became the reference for a number of courts. Ultimately, all political parties, including the Salafists, but with the exception of the Brothers, called the army to overthrow him, which was done on the night of July 3 to 4 2013. Since then, the army has fought a fierce battle against the Brotherhood and for the neutrality of the state.

Translation
Roger Lagassé