...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Fifteen of the nineteen WTC hijackers were Saudis, and most major jihadi commanders were Saudis, to include Osama bin Laden. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman quietly folded that tent in 2016, doing terrible things to the guys running it, and has since been dragging the kingdom into the current century...for Coptic Egyptians and Eritrea
...is run by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), with about the amounts of democracy and justice you'd expect from a party with that name. National elections have been periodically scheduled and cancelled; none have ever been held in the country. The president, Isaias Afewerki, has been in office since independence in 1993 and will probably die there of old age...
ns residing in the country, according to the official publication of the church El-Keraza.
The mass was held at the end of a one-month visit by Archbishop Morcos of Shobra El-Kheima to Saudi Arabia, said El-Keraza in its most recent edition published on Friday.
The archbishop visited Riyadh, Jeddah and elsewhere in the eastern provinces, reported El-Keraza. He held masses under the auspices of the Saudi authorities that were attended by a large numbers of Copts as well as Eritreans.
The visit concluded with the holding of the Divine Liturgy on the evening of 6 January of the Gregorian calendar to celebrate Orthodox Christmas.
Coptic Orthodox Egyptians, who make up around 90 percent of all Christians in Egypt, celebrate Christmas on 7 January, while the minority of non-Orthodox Christians observe the holiday on 25 December.
Morcos' visit was his ninth annual visit to Saudi Arabia since 2015, which have traditionally lasted for an average of two weeks. In 2018, Morcos performed the first Christian mass held in Saudi Arabia at the invitation of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.
According to El-Keraza magazine, the Coptic Orthodox Church expressed thanks to the Saudi ambassador in Cairo for facilitating Morcos’ visit, expressing gratitude to God for the visits that allow the Church to serve and maintain contact with its people abroad.
The Church also lauded Saudi Arabia for opening up to global societies in a solid, stable and contemporary manner that allows it to be an active and influential voice to all countries, the magazine said, adding that the country has seen a boom in progress, development and prosperity.
Moreover, the church credited the king and the crown prince for such modernisation and openness, adding that the crown prince represents the generation of globalised young people actively heading towards the "horizons of the developed world."