Tag: Luxor

Egypt: Copts’ homes attacked despite advance notice to police of threats

September 3, 2018 Egypt Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Luxor, Minya, Police

Houses of Copts have again come under attack by a mob in a village in Minya Governorate on 31 August, as a protest against Copts praying in a home owned by one of them, since there is no village church, Coptic news site Watani reports. World Watch Monitor last week . . . Read More

Egypt: Muslim mobs force closure of 8 Coptic churches seeking ‘official’ recognition

August 29, 2018 Egypt Churches, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Luxor, Upper Egypt

The Copts in El-Zeniqa are no longer able to meet in their church following an attack by Muslim villagers. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

A Coptic diocese in Upper Egypt last week saw its eighth church closed following attacks by Muslim villagers protesting against the church being legally recognised. Across Egypt, there are thousands of buildings informally acknowledged as churches. Exactly two years ago, the government introduced a new common law granting church buildings the . . . Read More

Egyptian Copts face Muslim mobs protesting against legalisation of churches

May 4, 2018 Egypt Churches, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Luxor, Palm Sunday, Upper Egypt

The closure of a church in Upper Egypt that sought legalisation has been condemned as illegal by the congregation’s lawyer, and charges made against eight of its congregation, who have been detained for more than a month, as not valid. Coptic Christians of Al-Koumair village in Luxor Governorate had been . . . 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

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

5 years since Maspero, Egypt’s Copts denied permit to remember 27 dead

October 7, 2016 Egypt Copts, Hosni Mubarak, Luxor, Maspero

Coptic organisations outside Egypt commemorate this weekend the 5th anniversary of an attack by the Egyptian Army against a peaceful Christian protest march, which resulted in 27 Copts killed and scores of others injured. Known as the “Maspero massacre” it mainly took place (on 9 Oct. 2011) outside the huge . . . Read More

Copts attacked, forced to settle for nothing, in absence of Egyptian justice

July 27, 2016 Egypt Al-Azhar, Anba Macarius, Bishop Angaelos, Churches, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Luxor, Pope Tawadros II, Salafism, Sharia, Soad Thabet, Sunni

Eight Christian homes were attacked and an equal number of Copts were detained after Muslims in an Egyptian village went on a rampage following rumours of a house church being built. The attack last week in Saft el-Khirsa (180km south of Cairo) trails more than a dozen others that have, . . . Read More

A dozen incidents against Egypt’s Copts in 7 weeks

July 20, 2016 Egypt Anba Macarius, Copts, Egypt, Luxor, Minya, Samalut, Sohag, Tanta

Since May 2016, Egypt’s Christians have suffered multiple attacks. Reflecting what most Copts see as the country turning a blind eye to increased violence against its Christian minority, the Coptic Church’s Bishop Makarius tweeted on 17 July “reminding” president Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi that Copts “are Egyptian citizens”, and that his diocese . . . Read More

Egypt’s imams and priests confront sectarianism together

December 29, 2015 Egypt Al-Azhar, Cairo, Hosni Mubarak, Ismailia, Luxor, Mohamed Morsi, Port Said, Sohag

For three years, the Imam-Priest Exchange has brought Christian and Muslim leaders together to deepen religious unity.World Watch Monitor Gathered at Cairo’s prestigious Dar al-Mudarra’at military complex in early December, 150 imams and priests heard some of Egypt’s highest religious authorities praise their participation in a three-year programme to . . . Read More

Shooting of witness threatens trial of Coptic Christians’ murderers

February 19, 2015 Egypt Copts, Islamic extremism, Luxor, Upper Egypt

Taken during the funeral of Shahid Nasemis SaroufimWorld Watch Monitor It’s happening several times a week now, particularly in the towns and villages of Upper Egypt. Just a brief news report, citing an isolated killing here and there of a Coptic Christian by “unknown gunmen.” Another statistic, usually just . . . Read More

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