Pope Francis I visit tops coverage of Egypt in the foreign press

As expected, Pope Francis I’s visit, meetings with senior religious and political figures, and his speeches effectively hijacked all coverage of Egypt over the weekend. Three running themes pervade coverage of the visit: his message of peace; his denunciation of radicalism; and his calls for Christian unity. The New York Times’ Jason Horowitz and Declan Walsh have paid attention to the Pope’s message to Western leaders on the dangers of populism. In a separate piece, Horowitz takes special pleasure in the pope urging President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to do more on the human rights front. Walsh has an interesting human interest piece on a small Cairo church looking to get legalized to highlight issues with church licensing. Francis X. Rocca and Dahlia Kholaif end their reporting on the visit for the Wall Street Journal on a hopeful note of how Christians feel unified as a result of the visit. The Washington Post offers nothing by way of original writing.