<p>Pope Francis led a jubilant mass for thousands of Egyptian Catholics today during a visit to support the country's embattled Christian minority and promote dialogue with Muslims.<br /><br />Worshippers released yellow and white balloons with Francis, flanked by security, circling the Cairo stadium on a golf cart and waving to the crowds as a chorus sang a joyous hymn.<br /><br />The smiling pontiff was then greeted by a group of children wearing pharaonic head dresses.<br />Francis kissed an altar set up under a canopy and bowed his head listening to the liturgy before saying a prayer then listening to a recital from the Bible's Acts of the Apostles, which tells the story of the church's founding.<br /><br />It is the second and last day of Francis's visit, which saw him plead for tolerance and peace on Friday as he visited a Coptic church bombed by the Islamic State group in December.<br /><br />The spiritual leader of the world's almost 1.3 billion Catholics also became the first pope to visit the headquarters of the grand imam of Al-Azhar, one of the Muslim world's leading religious authorities.<br /><br />Worshippers, old and young, nuns and priests, had been bussed to the stadium under tight security, with the country under a state of emergency following three IS church bombings in December and April that killed dozens of worshippers.<br /><br />"We wanted to see the pope and show him that there is no problem here and that the situation is safe. We feel proud that he is in Egypt. It's a message that we are still standing on our feet," said Kanzi Beblawi, a 33-year-old woman, as she waited to board a bus.<br /><br />In the stadium some waved Egyptian flags and released balloons the colour of the Vatican flag and others tied together to form a rosary that rose to the sky.<br /><br />The event brings together members of all Catholic rites in the country - Coptic, Armenian, Maronite and Melkite.<br /><br />Egypt's Catholic community is estimated at about 272,000.The Argentine pontiff will give a homily during the mass, which is to be held in Arabic and Latin.<br /><br />After lunching with Egyptian bishops, he will meet seminarians before wrapping up his 27-hour visit in the afternoon.<br /><br />His entire tightly scheduled trip was heavily secured as he travelled from one engagement to another in a closed car.<br /><br />IS has threatened further attacks after the suicide bombings that killed 29 people in Cairo in December, and 45 people north of the capital earlier this month.<br /><br />Yesterday, the 80-year-old pontiff denounced violence and "demagogic" populism in an address to a Muslim-Christian conference.<br /><br />"Peace alone... is holy and no act of violence can be perpetrated in the name of God, for it would profane his name," Francis said.<br /><br />He criticised what he called "demagogic forms of populism... on the rise", saying they were unhelpful to peace.<br /><br />Christians, who make up around 10 per cent of Egypt's population of 92 million, have long complained of marginalisation in the Muslim-majority country.Egypt has the largest Christian community of the Middle East.</p>
<p>Pope Francis led a jubilant mass for thousands of Egyptian Catholics today during a visit to support the country's embattled Christian minority and promote dialogue with Muslims.<br /><br />Worshippers released yellow and white balloons with Francis, flanked by security, circling the Cairo stadium on a golf cart and waving to the crowds as a chorus sang a joyous hymn.<br /><br />The smiling pontiff was then greeted by a group of children wearing pharaonic head dresses.<br />Francis kissed an altar set up under a canopy and bowed his head listening to the liturgy before saying a prayer then listening to a recital from the Bible's Acts of the Apostles, which tells the story of the church's founding.<br /><br />It is the second and last day of Francis's visit, which saw him plead for tolerance and peace on Friday as he visited a Coptic church bombed by the Islamic State group in December.<br /><br />The spiritual leader of the world's almost 1.3 billion Catholics also became the first pope to visit the headquarters of the grand imam of Al-Azhar, one of the Muslim world's leading religious authorities.<br /><br />Worshippers, old and young, nuns and priests, had been bussed to the stadium under tight security, with the country under a state of emergency following three IS church bombings in December and April that killed dozens of worshippers.<br /><br />"We wanted to see the pope and show him that there is no problem here and that the situation is safe. We feel proud that he is in Egypt. It's a message that we are still standing on our feet," said Kanzi Beblawi, a 33-year-old woman, as she waited to board a bus.<br /><br />In the stadium some waved Egyptian flags and released balloons the colour of the Vatican flag and others tied together to form a rosary that rose to the sky.<br /><br />The event brings together members of all Catholic rites in the country - Coptic, Armenian, Maronite and Melkite.<br /><br />Egypt's Catholic community is estimated at about 272,000.The Argentine pontiff will give a homily during the mass, which is to be held in Arabic and Latin.<br /><br />After lunching with Egyptian bishops, he will meet seminarians before wrapping up his 27-hour visit in the afternoon.<br /><br />His entire tightly scheduled trip was heavily secured as he travelled from one engagement to another in a closed car.<br /><br />IS has threatened further attacks after the suicide bombings that killed 29 people in Cairo in December, and 45 people north of the capital earlier this month.<br /><br />Yesterday, the 80-year-old pontiff denounced violence and "demagogic" populism in an address to a Muslim-Christian conference.<br /><br />"Peace alone... is holy and no act of violence can be perpetrated in the name of God, for it would profane his name," Francis said.<br /><br />He criticised what he called "demagogic forms of populism... on the rise", saying they were unhelpful to peace.<br /><br />Christians, who make up around 10 per cent of Egypt's population of 92 million, have long complained of marginalisation in the Muslim-majority country.Egypt has the largest Christian community of the Middle East.</p>