President Abdel Fattah El Sisi attended Coptic Christmas mass at Abbasiya Cathedral in Cairo Tuesday evening, making history as the first Egyptian president to personally attend the ceremony. President El Sisi made an impromptu speech calling upon Egyptians to unite as “one hand,” put aside sectarian divides and set an example for the rest of the world.

Some select quotes from an English translation of the speech are below and a full video of the speech can be found at this link.

“It is very important that the world sees us as Egyptians. And you have noticed that I never use any other word but the word “Egyptians”. It’s not acceptable for anyone to tell anyone else anything different. We are Egyptians. Nobody should say: What kind of Egyptian are you?”

“We are setting an example from right here in Egypt. That is why it is not acceptable to say anything except that we are Egyptians. We must be Egyptians only. Yes, Egyptians. Yes, we are one hand.”

“We will treat each other with respect. And we treat each other with love, a deep and sincere love.”