Pope Francis on Monday
called Pope Tawadros II, the leader of the Coptic Orthodox
Church of Alexandria to voice his condolences over Sunday's
attack in a Coptic cathedral in Cairo that claimed 23 lives,
Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said. Francis "expressed his sympathies to the patriarch and the Coptic community that was stricken so harshly, especially the women and children who represent the highest number of victims," Burke said.
Tawadros on Monday presided over a funeral Mass for the vicims in a church not far from the location of the explosion in Cairo.