Tag: Beni Suef

Coptic teacher charged with contempt of religion for questions about Muhammad

March 22, 2018 Egypt Beni Suef, Blasphemy, Children, Copts, Education, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Prophet Muhammad

A Coptic teacher at an Egyptian state school has been charged with contempt of religion after including wordplays in a set of questions about Islam’s prophet, Muhammad. Magdy Farag Samir, 49, a teacher of social studies at Barot Preparatory School for Girls in Beni Suef Governorate, asked his students: “Where . . . Read More

Egypt: Coptic priest’s murderer sentenced to death

November 17, 2017 Egypt Beni Suef, Bishop Angaelos, Copts, Egypt, Islamic State, Minya, Palm Sunday, Samaan Shehata, Sinai

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 . . . Read More

Egypt: the public spectacle of a slain Coptic priest

October 13, 2017 Egypt Al-Azhar, Beni Suef, Bishop Angaelos, Cairo, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Samaan Shehata

The images were horrific. Father Samaan Shehata, a 45-year-old Coptic Orthodox priest, lay dead on the ground, stabbed and beaten by a young man wielding a meat cleaver. Blood dripped down his face into his long, black beard. Dirt discoloured his flowing black robe. His cross pendant rested peacefully on . . . Read More

Coptic priest killed in Cairo

October 12, 2017 Egypt Beni Suef, Cairo, Copts, Egypt, Islamic State, Salafism, Samaan Shehata, Upper Egypt

A Coptic priest has been stabbed to death in Cairo, reports Egypt Independent. Samaan Shehata, who is from the Beni Suef governorate south of Cairo, was visiting the capital for a conference when a man reportedly stopped his vehicle and then attacked him with a cleaver. The attacker, who has . . . Read More

Egypt: second Copt in two years dies mysteriously in same Army unit – this time on his first day

August 11, 2017 Egypt Beni Suef, Conscripts, Copts, Egypt

The family of a Coptic Christian soldier who died last month on his first day at work – in the same regiment where another Copt died in mysterious circumstances in November 2015 – say he was murdered because of his Christian faith. Having just completed his army training, 22-year-old Joseph . . . Read More

Four years after revolution Egypt’s Copts ask: ‘Where is our government?’

June 22, 2017 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Beni Suef, Cairo, Copts, Islamic State, Minya

A child hovers over the coffins of his parents during their funeral service at St Samuel Monastery. They were among the 29 Coptic Christians killed in the attack on Ascension Day. (Photo: Getty Images)

Two days before the bus attack in Minya that killed 29 Copts travelling to a monastery on Ascension Day (26 May), the US embassy in Cairo warned of a possible terrorist attack. Now Egypt’s Copts are querying the absence of increased security measures and wondering why the emergency response was . . . Read More

Community ‘justice’ expels Copts from their homes

June 17, 2015 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Beni Suef, Copts, Egypt, Gad Younan, Islamic State, Minya, Mohamed Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood

Forgive Emad Youssef if he and his extended family felt quite confused. The crowd welcoming them back to the village had only a few days earlier demanded they leave. “They said this is the first time something like this has happened in our village,” he told private satellite channel, OnTV “and that, . . . Read More

Egypt’s damaged churches begin to re-open

August 14, 2014 Egypt Beni Suef, Churches, Copts, Egypt, Minya, Mohamed Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood, Sohag

A year after a wave of anti-Christian violence , 10 have re-opened, says the Coptic bishop overseeing church restoration. that Bishop Morcos of Shubra Al Khaimah said “the army in cooperation with some concerned companies” has restored the 10 churches, which are in the Beni Suef, Sohag and Minya governorates . . . Read More

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