y Ahmed Shafiq
CAIRO, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Millions of Egyptian Coptic Christians headed to churches across the country for Christmas Eve Mass Services amid heavy security measures after two policemen guarding a church in Egypt's Minya province, south of the capital Cairo, were killed by unidentified gunmen on Tuesday.
The attack against the church guards did not prevent Eid Yossif and his two kids from going to Cairo's St. Simon the Tanner Coptic Orthodox Monastery to celebrate Christmas which is marked by Orthodox and Evangelical Christians on January 7.
"I'm not scared as long as God is by my side. We do not care even if this church will be attacked by anyone. We come here to pray for peace for all humankind," Yossif told Xinhua.
Yossif's 12-year old son Kerolos said his mother asked him and his younger brother not to join their father to the church, but the little boy insisted to attend the Christmas midnight mass.
"Today is one of our greatest feasts, and nobody can prevent me from celebrating my Lord's birth anniversary," said Kerolos, smiling.
A few days ago, Interior Ministry raised the level of security ahead of the New Year's Eve and the Eastern Christmas to protect churches during the holidays.
The death of the two policemen has increased the possibility of similar violent incidents on the occasion of Coptic Christmas as Egypt's interior ministry said it has tightened up measures to secure churches countrywide.
Churches and Christian neighborhoods have been the targets of several attacks over the past three years that has seen dozens killed.
On January 1, 2011 a bombing attack on Coptic Church in Alexandria during New Year service killed 23 people and injured scores others.
On Christmas Eve in 2010, a Muslim gunman fired on worshipers leaving a church in Upper Egypt, killing seven Christians.
Following former President Mohamed Morsi's removal by the military in July, 2013, a number of churches and public properties were burned and destroyed.
Meanwhile, anti-government attacks killed hundreds of police and military men in the Sinai Peninsula and other parts across the country, including Cairo.
Since Morsi's ouster, the crackdown on his loyalists also left about 1,000 killed and thousands more arrested.
However, most of Coptic Christians, who make up about 10 percent of the country's total population of 85 million, say they co-exist peacefully with the majority Sunni Muslims in Egypt.
Priest Botros Saeed of St. Simon the Tanner Monastery said that Egyptians, Muslims and Christians, are all against extremism and terrorism.
"We are one people. Together we can only defeat terrorism that targets both Muslims and Christians, and we will together achieve our goals soon," Priest Botros said.
The priest's speech on the historic strong ties between Muslims and Christians has been approved by Egypt's Muslim President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who showed up at the Coptic Christmas mass to mark the first attendance ever made by an Egyptian president to the religious occasion.
Sisi arrived at Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo's Abbasiya district during the mass and gave a brief speech before leaving instantly.
Crowds were cheering as al-Sisi entered the Cathedral with churchmen and saluted Pope Tawadros II, the Pope of Coptic Egyptians.
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