CWN - Egyptian government officials are encouraging Christians from abroad to consider pilgrimages to the sites traditionally associated with the flight into Egypt by the Holy Family.
The Coptic Orthodox Church has joined with the government tourism office to promote visits, advertising sites along the route from Sinai and Gaza to ancient Cairo. The government hopes to draw 500,000 visitors each year to the locations. Father Rafic Greiche, spokesman for Egypt’s Catholic bishops, observes that many Coptic Christians already visit the country’s pilgrim sites. An increase in tours will require an appeal to Catholics, he says. That appeal, in turn, will require assuring potential pilgrims that they will be safe in Egypt.
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