More than two thousand Copts Saturday evening organized a protest outside the Holy Diocese of Mallawi in the Upper EgyptianMinya Governorate to denounce the fatal bombing outside St. Mark and St. Peter Church in Alexandria minutes after midnight on New Year's Eve. The protesters chanted “with our blood and souls we will redeem the cross.” Security guards relied on church officials to control the angry protesters. After nearly an hour, priests succeeded in convincing the protesters to enter the church, urging them to let their emotions out through prayer. Heavy security measures, however, were implemented in the vicinity of the diocese. Police cars surrounded the place of worship while all streets leading to it were shut down with iron barriers. Bishop Demetrius of the Holy Diocese made the decision to cancel the "Kom Maria" celebrations for the second year in a row. The January 2010 Nagaa Hammadi incident, in which six Copts and a Muslim policeman were killed outside two neighboring churches on the eve of Orthodox Christmas, prompted church officials to cancel the celebrations a year ago. Immediately following the Alexandria bombing, Demetrius instructed the removal of all Christmas adornments from the church. Each year, the diocese hosts the "Kom Maria" celebrations in the region, according to Christian lore, visited by Jesus and the Virgin Mary during the Holy Family's escape to Egypt from Roman oppression. The celebrations take place on the last Saturday of each year in the presence of a number of foreign ambassadors and consuls. Past attendees include British, American and Italian ambassadors. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
