Pope Francis is to visit Egypt next month – and Egyptian tourist authorities are using the event to publicise a 'Way of the Holy Family' pilgrimage destination.
The vital Egyptian tourist trade has been devastated by terror attacks leading to countries including the UK recommending against all but essential travel to some areas.
According to Fides, the pilgrimage trail aims to follow the route traditionally taken by Joseph, Mary and Jesus as they fled King Herod's forces after the visit of the Magi (Matthew 2:13-15). There were Jewish settlements at Alexandria and in many other Egyptian towns and cities where they would have been able to find refuge.
Egypt has recently restored the Abu Sarga cave church, dating from the 5th century, where local tradition says the family rested before starting their journey back to Palestine.
The trail is expected to start at the town of Al-Arish in Northern Sinai, which has been the scene of violence against Coptic Christians by jihadist groups, and progress toward the Nile Delta, Wadi Natrun, Assiut and the Monastery of the Virgin Mary.
Francis is to visit Cairo at the end of April at the invitation of Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the Grand Imam of the Al-Azhar Mosque and Christian leaders.
Relations between the Vatican and Egypt soured in 2011 when Pope Benedict called for Christian minorities to be protected after an attack on a church in Alexandria. Egypt withdrew its ambassador to the Holy See and Al-Azhar University also broke off ties, which were not reinstated until October last year.
