Tayeb warned that “division will lead the country to a catastrophe, and it must end,” according to Al-Arabiya.

Khaled Daoud, spokesman of the main opposition National Salvation Front, said the leader of the coalition, Mohamed ElBaradei, sat down with the pope, the mufti and military leaders to plan the road map forward.

The Muslim Brotherhood was banned under Hosni Mubarak’s rule and began implementing heavy handed religious laws after coming to power. Copts were increasingly targeted by violence, one of the grievances that led to the largest protest in human history on Sunday.

Morsi reportedly called the pope before the Tamarod (“Rebel”) event to ask that he direct Copts not to participate in the protest. U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson, possibly the most unpopular person at Tamarod, reportedly tried to convince the pope of the same.

Tawadros II declined, maintaining Egypt’s Christians should exercise free speech.

“The speech of the president last night and before the 48 hours deadline did not achieve the goals of the people, which resulted that the armed forces, based on its own national and patriotic duty, to consult with several leaders, civic and religious and youth, which without excluding anyone,” Gen. Abdel Fatah Said Al-Sisi said in the military’s statement.

The general said their working group arrived at its road map to build an “Egyptian society, strong and stable, that will not exclude any one of its sons.”