Several hundred Coptic Christians gathered in Rome and Milan Sunday, January 9, to demand religious freedom and protection following a New Year's church attack in Egypt that killed 21 worshippers. Pope Benedict XVI expressed his "closeness" to the Coptic community during his Angelus prayer.

Some 500 people gathered in a downtown Rome piazza, some holding candles, some chanting. Many said they were demonstrating against religious violence not just in Egypt but across the world.

In Milan, about 200 people gathered in front of one of the city's landmarks, the Duomo Cathedral.

In the Austrian capital of Vienna, meanwhile, hundreds crowded into a church to pray for those who lost their lives in the Jan. 1 suicide bombing, The Associated Press reported.