Tag: Egypt

Weary Copts urge Pope Francis to challenge Sisi over attacks and chronic discrimination

April 27, 2017 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Al-Azhar, Copts, Egypt, Palm Sunday, Pope Francis, Pope Tawadros II, Tanta

Egyptian Copts have welcomed Pope Francis’ “insistence” that his visit to Cairo this week go ahead despite the recent attacks on two churches that killed 45 worshippers. The head of the Catholic Church will arrive in Cairo on Friday and visit President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar . . . Read More

Religious intolerance increasing, says Pew annual report

April 25, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country China, Egypt, Europe, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Religious freedom, Russia, Saudi Arabia

Europe is seeing an increase in government's engaging in harassment and use of force against religious groups. This is partly caused by a surge in migration.

A report released earlier this month by the Pew Research Center shows an increased intolerance towards religion by governments and societies alike in 2015. According to Pew’s annual report, restrictions on religious activities increased in 2015, as did harassment relating to religion. The global study, which included 198 countries, found . . . Read More

Persecution of Christians ‘still not taken seriously’

April 12, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Batnaya, Boko Haram, Egypt, Hindu nationalism, Iraq, Islamic State, Middle East, Nigeria, North Africa, Syria

Christians are the “most harassed religious minority in the world” but their oppression is largely under-reported in the West.

Following the Palm Sunday bomb attacks on two Egyptian churches, Ewelina Ochab, writing for Forbes, suggests that it’s time to be more proactive in response to the persecution of Christians – “the most persecuted religious group in the world”. “The situation [for Christians] has not improved [in] recent years,” she writes. . . . Read More

Egypt’s Christians mourn 49 killed in Palm Sunday church bombings

April 10, 2017 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Bishop Angaelos, Copts, Egypt, Islamic State, Palm Sunday, Pope Tawadros II, Tanta

Chaos in St George's cathedral, Tanta, after a suicide bomber blew himself up during the Palm Sunday liturgy

Egypt’s Christians are in mourning and profound shock after yesterday’s twin suicide bombing attacks on churches packed for Palm Sunday, which left at least 49 people dead and more than 110 injured. The Coptic Pope, Tawadros II, narrowly escaped injury, having just celebrated Mass in one of the cathedrals that . . . Read More

Bomb near Egyptian church defused amidst growing insecurity

April 4, 2017 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Copts, Egypt, Gharbia, Islamic State, Muslim Brotherhood, Tanta

Egyptian security forces in the western province of Gharbia dismantled a bomb outside the Mary Girgis church in Tanta last week. Three days later, a group linked to the Muslim Brotherhood bombed a police training camp in the same city, killing one and injured 16. It was in Tanta, Egypt’s . . . Read More

Copts still homeless months after homes burnt down

March 16, 2017 Egypt Copts, Egypt, El-Arish, Kom El-Loufy, Minya, Sinai

Makeshift church in Minya burned down by extremists
Photo: Wataninet

In July last year, four Coptic homes were set on fire in a village 230km south of Cairo, following rumours the Copts planned to turn one of the houses into a church. Eight months later, the Copts – two brothers, Ashraf and Ibrahim Khalaf, and their families – are still . . . Read More

Helping Dunkirk’s migrants – God’s will or collusion in illegal entry?

March 15, 2017 Calais, Converts, Dunkirk, Egypt, Eritrea, France, Iran, La Linière, Migrants, Refugees

Iranian migrants line up for prayer alongside other members of the congregation at the Dk Live church in Dunkirk

Reaching out to the migrants who arrive in the north of France presents the Church with a weighty dilemma. The migrants have generally paid smugglers several thousand pounds to help them to cross Europe, and have their eyes – and their hearts – set on reaching England, which will mean . . . Read More

UPDATE: Missing Egyptian woman, 18, given new Muslim identity by security services

March 8, 2017 Egypt Copts, Egypt, Kidnapping, Luxor, Upper Egypt, Women

UPDATE (8 March) The brother of 18-year-old Hanan Girgis, an Egyptian Christian woman missing since 26 January, says he has been told she has a new Muslim identity and is being held by the security services. Rezeiky Girgis heard from the Civil Status Authority at Esna Police Station that Hanan . . . Read More

Merkel accused of downplaying attacks on Copts

March 3, 2017 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Al-Azhar, Copts, Egypt, North Africa, Pope Tawadros II, Sinai, Sunni

A leading German Catholic priest yesterday (2 March) criticised German Chancellor Angela Merkel for “genuflecting” to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and failing to raise human-rights concerns as she headed to North Africa for trade talks. Joachim Schroedel, who has worked in Egypt for more than two decades, rejected Mrs . . . Read More

Muslims condemn killings of Copts, as more flee

February 28, 2017 Egypt Al-Nour Party, Copts, Egypt, El-Arish, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Ismailia, Sinai, Suez

An ultra-conservative Islamic political party in Egypt, Al-Nour, has publicly condemned the killings of Copts in northern Sinai, saying they “go against the teaching of Islam”. The House of Fatwa, chaired by the Grand Mufti of Egypt, also condemned the murders, saying they are “sabotaging” national unity. Coptic families have . . . Read More

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