Cairo Cathedral Bombing Victims

At least 25 people have died, and dozens more were wounded early Sunday in a bombing attack in a Coptic church in Cairo, Egypt, according to CNN and the government-sponsored Al-Ahram news outlet.

The explosion took place in the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, which is attached to the St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral, said the Coptic Church's official representative, the Rev. Paul Halim, according to Al-Ahram.

The attack occurred at one of the most symbolic religious sites for Copts, an ethnoreligious group centered in Egypt.

The Coptic Orthodox Church released a statement on its Facebook page:

"As we are bereaved by this violence and terrorism that attacks worshipers, we pray for these martyrs and for the wounded. The Egyptian church stresses on persevering national unity that keeps all Egyptians on Egypt's blessed land." President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi condemned the attack and declared a three-day period of national mourning.

The Grand Mufti, the highest official of religious law in Egypt, condemned the attack on the cathedral.

"Attacking churches whether by demolition, bombing, killing those inside, or terrifying ... secure people are prohibited in Islamic Sharia," Sheikh Shawky Ibrahim Abdel-Karim Allam said.

He called for unity against "terrorism that tries to instigate sectarianism and sedition among the two wings of Egypt – Muslims and Christians – in a bid to weaken the nation."

The Grand Mufti also extended his condolences to Pope Tawadros ll of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.