Tag: Copts

‘How can you accidentally shoot yourself in the back of the neck?’ ask Coptic soldier’s family

May 2, 2018 Egypt Asyut, Conscripts, Copts, Egypt, El-Arish, Giza

A Coptic Christian soldier reported to have died by accident ten days ago was in fact killed, his family say. The family of 22-year-old Mikhail Farhat Saad Tamer were called to collect his body from the police station in Al-Qusiyyah, Asyut Governorate, on 23 April. But when they arrived, they were . . . Read More

Egypt’s disappearing Coptic women and girls

May 1, 2018 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Beni Suef, Cairo, Children, Copts, Egypt, Giza, Kidnapping, Marriage, Minya, Qalyubia, Qena, Sharqia, Sohag, Women

At least seven Coptic Christian women and girls disappeared in Egypt last month, in what is becoming a recurring phenomenon. In each case, the family of the woman says she was abducted by a Muslim who wished to convert her to Islam and marry her. All of the disappearances have been . . . Read More

Egypt: Court will try 3 men for assault on elderly Coptic woman

April 25, 2018 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Minya, Soad Thabet

Soad Thabet and Bishop Makarius of the Coptic Church.

Three men are scheduled to stand trial in an Egyptian court for publicly stripping a 70-year-old Christian woman following rumours that her son had an affair with a married Muslim woman. Following the rumour and threats made to him and his family, Ashraf Attiya, a then-31-year-old Coptic Christian trader, fled . . . Read More

‘Giving freedom to women is something remarkable’ – Egypt’s Protestant head

April 25, 2018 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Andrea Zaki, Cairo, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Middle East, Protestants, Sunni, Women

“Changes related to women are the most critical changes in any culture and any country,” says Rev. Dr Andrea Zaki, head of Egypt’s fast-growing Protestant community. “You can easily give men freedom, but giving freedom to women is something remarkable.” Zaki welcomes what he calls the “major and radical” reforms . . . Read More

Coptic teacher cleared of contempt of religion for questions about Muhammad

April 25, 2018 Egypt Beni Suef, Blasphemy, Children, Copts, Education, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Prophet Muhammad

A Coptic teacher has been found not guilty of contempt of religion, after he was charged last month for including wordplays in a set of questions about Islam’s prophet, Muhammad. During the hearing on 19 April, both the headmaster of the school and a local MP defended the teacher, Magdy Farag . . . Read More

Egypt: Protestant leader rejects community reconciliation system

April 20, 2018 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Al-Azhar, Andrea Zaki, Arab Spring, Cairo, Churches, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Protestants, Samaan Shehata

Thousands attend Kasr El Dobara Evanglical Church in Cairo each week. There are thought to be as many as 2m Evangelicals in Egypt

The head of Egypt’s Protestant Church has said he urges clergy not to take part in “reconciliation sessions” that aim to resolve community conflicts without the involvement of the police and legal system. Rev. Dr. Andrea Zaki said he “strongly” opposed the scheme because it renders the law “absent”. The reconciliation . . . Read More

Egypt church application triggers attack

April 19, 2018 Egypt Beni Suef, Churches, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Luxor, Qena

Egypt’s Prime Minister Sherif Ismail has called for the process of legalising unlicensed churches to be “speeded up” after granting a second batch of church buildings official status this week. The government has legalised 219 churches and church-affiliated buildings this year, but 3,511 others remain on the waiting list. The . . . Read More

Egypt: Three arrested for plotting Easter attacks

April 11, 2018 Egypt Alexandria, Copts, Islamic State, Palm Sunday, Sohag, Tanta

Coptic Church in central Egypt. (Photo: World Watch Monitor, 2004)

Egyptian security forces arrested three people suspected of planning to target Coptic churches during last Sunday’s Orthodox Easter celebrations. Sources said that police arrested three Egyptians in the city of Maragha, in Egypt’s southern province of Sohag last Thursday, as churches prepared for three days of services culminating on Easter . . . Read More

Egypt: Copt killer’s death sentence confirmed

April 3, 2018 Egypt Alexandria, Copts, Egypt

An Egyptian court ruled on Easter Sunday that the murderer of a Coptic man, who was targeted because he sold alcohol, will be executed, reports Egypt-based Copts United. Adel Aboul Nour Suleiman was sentenced to death last year for killing Youssef Lamei in January 2017. Sunday’s ruling rejected an appeal against . . . Read More

Egyptian mob celebrates blocking application for new church

March 26, 2018 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Copts, Egypt, Qena, Upper Egypt

Mob rule has stopped hundreds of Christians in a village in Upper Egypt building their first church, World Watch Monitor has learned from local Copts. The nearest church for the 500 Copts living in El Toud, in Qena Governorate, is 10km away. So, since 2007, they have used the home . . . Read More

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