Over 100 Coptic Christians were killed in 2017 in a wave of deadly attacks by militants belonging to, or inspired by, the Islamic State group, which has vowed to “wipe them out”. Egypt’s Copts, who account for around 10 per cent of the population, were also targeted in 2013, after they were perceived as supporting the ousting of President Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood government. Scores of churches across the country were attacked and burned.
Copts in the Egyptian town of Kom El-Loufy, Upper Egypt, 250 km south of Cairo, started the construction of a church today, seven years after their previous building was closed by local authorities because of “security reasons”. They have withdrawn their charges against 23 Muslims who burned down some of their […]
Marco and Mina live in a small village in the Minya region of rural southern Egypt. Both look young for their age, 14 and 10 respectively. On 25 May 2017, they joined their father Ayad to go to the monastery of St. Samuel. Ayad worked there and was going to […]
A Coptic cathedral has been restored and reopened eight months after a suicide bombing there on Palm Sunday killed 28 and injured 74 others. St. George’s Cathedral in Tanta, the capital of the Gharbia governorate north of Cairo, has been renamed the Cathedral of St. George and the Martyrs, and […]
Twenty-one churches in Egypt’s southern rural Minya governorate can restore, expand and rebuild their churches after receiving approval from the Minya Governor. Governor Essam al-Bedeiwi approved the 21 applications over the last six months. Some of the churches had been waiting for more than 20 years for a permit to come […]
An Egyptian bishop says that by killing hundreds of Christians across the Middle East the Islamic State group has in fact strengthened the Church and been “the greatest preacher for Christianity in the world”. Bishop Stephen of Beba and Fashn, speaking during a memorial service for the murdered Coptic priest […]
Egypt’s North Cairo Criminal Court has sentenced to death 19-year-old Ahmad Saeed Ibrahim al-Sonbati for killing a priest and injuring another in a knife attack. The verdict has now been forwarded to the Grand Mufti, who must give his approval. He is expected to give his final verdict on 15 […]
A pro-Islamic State (IS) group media outlet has issued a new threat against Egypt’s Coptic Christians, saying they must be attacked as “infidel fighters” and their churches must be blown up. The message, issued by the Wafa Media Foundation, said Copts did not accept dhimmitude – the condition of submission imposed […]
The governor of Minya in Egypt has said he will consider an application to build a church to honour the 28 Coptic pilgrims killed in May when militant Islamists intercepted the buses they were travelling on and opened fire. Anba Athanasius, Bishop of Beni-Mazar and Bahnassa, met General Essam Bedeiwi […]
A Pentecostal church in Minya City, Egypt, reopened its doors on Sunday (29 October) after 22 years without a permit, a move some see as a goodwill gesture from the government ahead of the visit of US Vice President Mike Pence. Pence announced last week that he hoped to visit […]
Police in Egypt’s Minya governorate closed another church and arrested 15 people in the village of Ezbet Zakariya last Friday (27 October) after a mob attacked Copts with stones and destroyed some of their property. The violence appears to have been fuelled by a flyer that was distributed on Friday, […]