The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and his predecessor wrote to the Coptic Church in Egypt to express their shock and sadness following the bomb attack on the Coptic Cathedral complex in Cairo on Sunday December 11.
At least 25 people were killed and dozens more wounded in the bombing.
In a letter to His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, who is the leader of the strongest Christian presence in the Middle East and North Africa, the Rt Rev Dr Russell Barr wrote: “Such an attack against innocent Christians joining one another to worship God is despicable, the loss of life unimaginable, and I can only begin to imagine the grief and suffering of so many people.