The Orthodox Easter mass, meant to be a religious celebration that marks the resurrection of Jesus after his crucifixion, took place amid increased attacks on churches.

Egypt's Orthodox Coptic Christians, who make up about 10 percent of the country's 90 million people, have long complained of discrimination. Clashes between Muslims and Christians have become more frequent after a breakdown in security following the ouster of longtime authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak from power in a 2011 uprising.

It also comes as the country is deeply polarized, with secularist liberals, Christians and some Muslims deeply angry with the direction of the country and at odds with a largely Islamist bloc that supports President Mohammed Morsi.

The divisions played out in the church when the pope read out a list of names of Cabinet officials who had greeted the pope by phone. The crowd erupted in roaring applause at the naming of Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyeb of al-Azhar, the head of the Sunni Muslim world's pre-eminent seat of learning, who is believed to be in a power tussle with the president's Muslim Brotherhood backers. The crowd also applauded when Sheik Mazhar Shahin was named. The cleric who preaches at a mosque overlooking Tahrir Square, the epicenter of anti-government protests, had been temporarily suspended after a citizen complained that his sermons were critical of Morsi.

The evening prayer service, which lasted for several hours, was tightly guarded. High-level police officials, the US Ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson, as well as Muslim figures opposed to Morsi attended the mass.

The president sent a representative ' the country's housing minister' to attend the prayer and Morsi spoke to the pope and the heads of other Christian churches in Egypt to greet them on the occasion.

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