Pope Tawadros II leads Maundy Thursday Mass without people

CAIRO - 16 April 2020: Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria and Patriarch of Saint Marks Diocese led the Maundy Thursday Mass at Anba Bishoy Monastery in Wadi El Natrun, Beheira Governorate, in the presence of a few numbers of bishops, priests and monks.

Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church has earlier announced suspending prayers and Holy Week services preceding Easter celebrations as part of efforts to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The Maundy Thursday is a celebration of the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the apostles in Jerusalem before he was betrayed by Judas Iscariot.

It is the fifth day of Holy Week and is preceded by Holy Wednesday and followed by Good Friday. Maundy is the name of the Christian rite of foot-washing, which traditionally occurs during Maundy Thursday church services.

On April 13, Security officials took the legal procedures against a priest who allowed a mass to be held in violation of the government’s decisions to ban gatherings as part of the coronavirus precautionary measures.

According to Masrawy website, an official source at the Coptic Orthodox Church explained the details of the church’s decision to close all churches and mourning halls, limit any funeral to the family of the deceased only, and suspend all ritual services, masses and activities.

The source told Masrawy that the permanent committee of the Holy Synod headed by His Holiness, Pope Tawadros II, held several meetings, and discussed some of the violations to the decision to ban gatherings and meetings inside the churches.

The source added that during the meetings, violations by a number of bishops and priests were spotted, which required intervention to protect the people of the church. The source stressed that the church has directly taken its decisions without any interference from the state’s agencies.

It should be noted that the Ministry of Health reported on April 15,155 new coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, raising the total number of cases in the northeastern African country to 2,505 cases.

The ministry in a statement also reported 5 new deaths, the country’s lowest count in April so far. The death toll since the novel virus emerged in Egypt now stands at 183.

On the other hand, the ministry said the results of a total of 751 cases have turned to negative, including 553 who totally recovered since the crisis started.