Egypt el-Sissi inaugurates cathedral, mosque in new capital
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Egypt's president is inaugurating a new cathedral for the Coptic Orthodox Church and one of the region's largest mosques.
Sunday's opening ceremony is a highly symbolic gesture at a time when Islamic militants are increasingly targeting the country's minority Christians.
Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, a general-turned-president, has made sectarian harmony a cornerstone of his rule, fighting Islamic militancy while advocating equality between the overwhelming Muslim majority and Christians, who account for about 10 percent of Egypt's 100 million people.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The cathedral and mosque were built in Egypt's New Administrative Capital, el-Sissi's brainchild, in the desert east of Cairo.
The inauguration ceremony fell on Christmas Eve for Egypt's predominantly Coptic Orthodox Christians, and just hours after a police major was killed trying to defuse an explosive device near a Cairo church.