Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church announced that a Catholic pilgrimage tourist program which aims to allow tourists to relive the journey Jesus Christ’s Holy Family took in Egypt will commence on Friday, June 15.
The church will receive the participating Italian delegation from June 17 until 21.
Nader Girgis, a member of the Holy Family Marketing Committee, told press that the delegation will consist of 50 tourists, including the Bishop of the Italian city of Viterbo, who will visit five places mentioned in the Holy Family journey’s trip program.
Spokesman for the Catholic church Father Hany Bakhom told press on June 1 that the trip will highlight several holy places mentioned in the Bible since Jesus’s birth. Father Ibrahim Ishak, patriarch of the Catholic church also witnessed the opening of the maze that hosted the holy family in Matareya on June 1, as a step towards initiating the program.
This is not the first time the Ministry of tourism has tried to promote the program abroad.
In October, ex-Minister of Tourism Yahya Rashid visited Rome where he met with Pope Francis to promote the tourist attraction. Rashid then obtained the pope’s permission to begin working on the program, which was mandatory to attract Catholic tourists.
The “Journey of the Holy Family in Egypt” program was created by the Ministry of Tourism to try and expand Egypt’s touristic attractions. The program represents a fascinating artistic reenactment of the religious story of Virgin Mary, Jesus and Joseph’s journey through Egypt while fleeing from King Herod in Palestine.
It aims to put Egypt on the map as a Christian religious tourist attraction.
The Flight to Egypt tells the story of an angel that appeared to St. Joseph in a dream telling him to flee to Egypt along with May and baby Jesus. The program will retrace the route the three took during the escape.
