Several hundred Coptic Christians and others gathered in Rome
and Milan Sunday to demand religious freedom and protection following a
New Year's church attack in Egypt that killed 21 worshippers.
Pope Benedict XVI expressed his "closeness" to the Coptic community during his Angelus prayer.
Some
500 people gathered in a downtown Rome piazza, some holding candles,
some chanting.
Many said they were demonstrating against religious
violence not just in Egypt but across the world.
A 30-year-old
Coptic Christian from Egypt, Basim George, said that "when I go back
home, I don't want my children to fear going to church or walking in the
streets."
In Milan, about 200 people gathered in front of one of the city's landmarks, the Duomo Cathedral, according to news reports.
In
the Austrian capital of Vienna, meanwhile, hundreds crowded into a
church to pray for those who lost their lives in the Jan. 1 suicide
bombing.
Among those attending the commemorative mass was Austria's most senior Catholic official, Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn.
In a statement, Schoenborn called Copts a "precious presence" in a secularized society.
The
somber celebration took place amid tight security.
While police
estimated that about 300 people participated, organizers said the number
topped a thousand.
SIC: TN/INT'L