The prayer for the head of state should be recited as usual because the prayer is not for someone in particular, said Coptic Pope Shenouda III on Wednesday, in response to a worshipper's question about whether it should be postponed until a new president is elected.
Shenouda said that the prayer is directed toward the person responsible for running the state, whoever that might be.
“We are in need of this prayer in particular during this critical phase as we need God to guide our leaders,” he said.
Pope Shenouda on Sunday met Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces, and they discussed the draft law on places of worship, to which the church has voiced objections.
Copts say that the law proposed by the government is unjust and would be hard to implement.
They rejected stipulations that there must be 1 km between places of worship and that the religious sites must be at least 1000 square meters in size.
Transalted from the Arabic Edition
