Egyptian Refaat El-Sayeh, in white robe, joins other Coptic Christian pilgrims from the village of Al-Kosheh, Egypt, in Jerusalem. Upon their return to Egypt, these men are called “Muqadiseen” meaning holy ones for having completed the journey to the the city where Jesus lived and died. Photo courtesy of Fady Hadny
Source: Religion News Service
| March 26, 2017
For years, those pilgrimages for Egypt’s Coptic Christians, like El-Sayeh, were discouraged.
“To visit Jerusalem and the holy places was always my wish,” El-Sayeh said. “You feel the hand of God. This is the lifelong dream of every Christian in Al-Kosheh.”
Now, it is a dream increasingly being realized. Last year, El-Sayeh and 25 others from this town 300 miles south of Cairo made an Easter pilgrimage to Jerusalem, part of a growing number of Egypt’s Coptic Christians doing the same.
Categories: Africa, Christianity, Egypt, Israel, Middle East, The Muslim Times