Egyptian presidential hopeful Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. Photo: RogDel via Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Leaders of Egypt’s Christian community congratulated Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on winning Egypt’s presidential election and welcomed the outcome of the race.

Pope Tawadros II, who heads Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church, described El-Sisi’s win as “the fruit of the people’s trust and indication of clear popular will,” Al-Ahram reported.

Tawadros has been outspoken in his support of El-Sisi. Last year he appeared alongside El-Sisi, along with his Muslim counterpart Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayeb, head of Al-Azhar University, to give legitimacy to the new military-backed government following the ouster of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi.

Other Christian leaders in Egypt echoed Tawadros’s sentiment.

“El-Sisi is the right man at the right time. His victory gives us Christians security and a perspective for the future. Better times are coming,” Bishop Adel Zaky, who heads the Catholic Church in Egypt, told the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need.

“He is a religious person, but he sees religion as a private matter. His prime concern is his country. He demonstrated this when he saved Egypt from an impending civil war last year,” Zaky said.

Egyptian Christians make up approximately 10 percent of the country’s 80 million people. Tawadros, along with Egypt’s Muslim leaders, are scheduled to attend El-Sisi’s swearing-in ceremony on Sunday.