Christian clergymen voice support for Mubarak, church constructions

Christian clergymen reiterated support for President Hosni Mubarak's policy and efforts to realize stability and peace in Egypt and the entire region.

This came during celebrations held on Thursday by Egyptian churches marking Virgin Mary Day following a two-week fasting.

Virgin Mary churches all over Egypt witnessed a great turnout by Copts since Wednesday night to attend the celebration.

The men of religion voiced hope that the Palestinian territories would be liberated and for palestinians to establish soon their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.

On the other hand, Pope Schenouda III, Patriarch of Alexandria and Saint Mark Diocese expressed in New York his personal pleasure for the honest and moderate stances adopted by President Hosni Mubarak in respect of all significant issues, foremost of which is the Middle East issue.

Pope Shenouda termed the relations with President Mubarak as "excellent", pointing to Mubarak's continuous and immediate response to all demands of the Egyptian Copts.

In a reception given by the Egyptian Plenipotentiary in New York on the honour of His Holiness the Pope, and attended by the members of the Egyptian community, Pope Shenouda expressed his regret and disapproval for accusing Al-Ahram chief editor Ibrahim Nafie of Anti-Semitism, and termed it as a direct aggression on the freedom of expression, and on a free writer who is the editor of one of the largest and wide-spread newspapers in the world.

Pope Shenouda declared that all challenges facing the Copts in Egypt are solved in a quite and proper manner, including the construction of churches, which is going on the best possible way.