Cathedral: Pope Tawadros' al-Quds visit does not mean breaking boycott decision news

 Archpriest Sergius Sergius, deputy of the Coptic patriarchate for administrative affairs, said Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria and Patriarch of Saint Mark Diocese's visit to Al-Quds aims to attend the funeral service of Anba Abraham, the Coptic Orthodox Metropolitan Arcbishop of Jerusalem and the Near East, who died at the age of 73 on Wednesday.
In exclusive statements to MENA on Thursday, he added that the visit does not mean withdrawing the decision to ban travel to al-Quds under Israeli occupation.
He added that Pope Tawadros was one of the disciples of Anba Abraham at Bishoy Monastery in Wadi Natrun and he was in a good relationship with the deceased.
He added that Pope Tawadros, since his papacy in 2012, reiterated more than once his commitment to the Holy Synod's decision that bans travel to al Quds.
Pope Tawadros' visit is the first by an Egyptian pontiff to Al Quds city since the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories in 1967.
Since 1978, late Pope Shenouda, Tawadros's predecessor, has issued a ban on Egyptian Copts' travel to Al Quds as long as it is under Israeli occupation.
The funeral service of Abraham will be held on Saturday, according to a statement by the Coptic Coptic Orthodox Church.
Anba Abraham was born in 1943 in the southern province of Sohag. He earned a B.Sc in agriculture in 1962 and went on to obtain a Ph.D in medicinal plants in 1968. 
He was fluent in Arabic and Coptic, as well as English, French, and German. 
As a deacon, he served in Giza parish till he took orders in 1984 as Fr Sidrac Anba Bishoi. In November 1991, he was consecrated Metropolitan of Jerusalem and the Near East by Pope Shenouda III.

Source: MENA.