Egypt’s Copts leader Pope Tawadros II visited the city of Samallout in the Minya province on Sunday, to offer condolences over the deaths of the Egyptians who were killed last month in Libya.
The Islamic State group released a video in February showing the beheadings of 21 Egyptian Copts who had been kidnapped by the group.
The pope was received by a Samallout priest, the deputy interior minister for the north of Upper Egypt, a Samallout security chief and other officials, as well as city locals.
Bishop Stephanos Shehata, of the Samallout Archbishopric, said the pope will inaugurate a new church during his visit to the city.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
