Apparition
Apparitions Reported at Zeitoun, Cairo
Marian apparition under Church review · Coptic Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary, Zeitoun, Cairo, Egypt, 1968
From 2 April 1968 and for some three years, luminous figures resembling the Blessed Virgin Mary were reported above the domes of the Coptic Orthodox church of the Virgin Mary at Zeitoun in Cairo, seen by very large crowds of Christians, Muslims and others, and widely photographed. The apparitions were silent, and no words were reported.
Background
Zeitoun was investigated by the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria: Pope Kyrillos VI appointed a commission of bishops and priests, and on 4 May 1968 issued an official statement confirming the apparitions. That decision belongs to the Coptic Orthodox Church, not to the Catholic Church, and it is important not to present it as a Catholic approval. The events occurred at an Orthodox church, and no decree of the Holy See or of a Catholic ordinary has judged them; the Catholic Church has therefore taken no position, and Catholics remain entirely free with regard to them. Zeitoun stands near the traditional route of the Holy Family's flight into Egypt, which is why so many in Egypt received the reports as a sign of Mary's presence with a suffering people.
Location
Coptic Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary, Zeitoun, Cairo
Country
Egypt
Approved status
Not yet judged
Year of apparition
1968
Visionaries
large public crowds; no individual seer
Subject
marian
Content subtype
apparition_under_review