Coptic Pope Shenouda III canceled his weekly sermon on Wednesday, in a move that came after he called for justice regarding two Copts who died in clashes with police on 24 November.
The clashes erupted in the Omraniya district, when the police halted the building of an unlicensed church.
“Christian blood is not cheap,” the pope said in a sermon following the incident.
The Church denied news reports indicating that the pope decided to retreat to the Bishoy Monastery in Wadi al-Natroun until the release of detainees arrested in the incident.
A source from within the Church told the Middle East News Agency that the pope went to the monastery to pray and that he did not plan to restrict his stay to any defined length of time.
The source asserted that the relationship between the church and the state is strong and based on mutual understanding, with neither interfering in the other’s affairs. It added that the church maintains full confidence in Egypt’s judiciary, including its decisions pertaining to the Omraniya incident and similar instances of sectarian strife.
The Omraniya incident strained already tense relations between the Coptic Church and the State.
The Church criticized the ruling National Democratic Party for not fielding Coptic candidates in recent parliamentary elections.
