Pope preaches peace at Cairo gathering amid tight security

Cairo - The crowd cheered him wildly, waving Egyptian and Holy See flags and swaying to hymns sung by church choirs.

Military helicopters flew overhead and police fanned out in force on Saturday as Pope Francis celebrated an open-air Mass for Egypt's tiny Catholic community on the final day of a visit aimed at comforting Christians following a series of attacks by militants.
Despite the security concerns, Francis zoomed around the Cairo sports stadium in an open-topped golf cart before the start of Mass, evidence of his desire to be close to his flock at all costs.
The crowd cheered him wildly, waving Egyptian and Holy See flags and swaying to hymns sung by church choirs.
The defence ministry's stadium has a capacity of 25,000, but only about 15,000 people attended - a reflection that Catholics represent less than 1 percent of Egypt's 92 million people.
In his homily, Francis urged them to be good and merciful to their fellow Egyptians, saying "the only fanaticism believers can have is that of charity!"
"Any other fanaticism does not come from God and is not pleasing to him!" he said.  It was a very pastoral message after Francis on his first day demanded that Muslim leaders renounce religious fanaticism that leads to violence. Francis made the appeal during a landmark visit to Cairo's Al Azhar.
Security was exceptionally tight around the stadium and in the upscale neighborhood where Francis spent the night, with uniformed and plain-clothed police stationed every metre or so along his motorcade route. Police used metal detectors to check vehicles for explosives and armed guards stood watch, some on rooftops, their faces covered.
But Francis decided to forego the bullet-proof "popemobile" that his predecessors used on foreign trips and drove through Cairo in a simple Fiat, his window rolled down.  "He is a messenger of peace, he is really a messenger of peace," said Amgad Eskandr before the Mass got under way at the stadium.
"All his words talk about peace, call for peace, push for peace which is great."  His gestures sent a defiant message to the extremist Daesh group, whose local affiliate in Egypt has vowed to target Egypt's Christians to punish them for their support of President Sisi.
As defence minister, Sisi had led the military ouster of Mohammed Mursi, Egypt's first freely elected president whose one-year rule proved divisive.
 

• MENA