Coptic Pope Shenouda III has categorically rejected an apology issued by a Giza bishop for last week's sectarian clashes, according to a papal source.
Thousands of Coptic Christians clashed with security forces last Wednesday in the Cairo district of Omraniya after construction work on a local church was halted by authorities.
On Sunday, Shenouda asserted that the church did not need to apologize for the incident, noting that two Copts had been killed in the melee and 157 others arrested, while church property suffered significant material damage.
The papal source noted that, while the pope was keen to preserve social harmony, he would not countenance apologies by the church since Copts had not started the incident.
Egyptian Union for Human Rights Director Naguib Gabriel, for his part, also decried the bishop’s apology, which he described as “humiliating.”
SIC: AMAY/INT'L
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