Melissa Parke (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the people of Fremantle, I too would like to offer my condolences to the Coptic community in Australia, in Egypt and elsewhere around the world on the death of His Holiness Pope Shenouda III. I want to thank all of my colleagues on all sides who have spoken on this condolence motion and to echo the words of the Prime Minister, who said:

We know the eight million Coptic Christians in Egypt—and millions more worldwide—have lost their patriarch in a most difficult time in their history.

I also know the Australian Coptic community looks to events in Egypt with great anxiety for their fellow faithful and the holy places.

I want them to know today that the Copts of Egypt are not without friends in the world, or in Australia.

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