Tag: Copts

Euro Court to France: Don’t deport Copt

June 17, 2013 Asylum seekers, Asyut, Copts, Egypt, France, Upper Egypt

France has decided that an Egyptian Coptic Christian man should be returned to his native country, but the European Court of Human Rights last week asked France to reconsider. AFP reports that the man, identified as M.E., arrived in France in 2007 from the Upper-Egypt governate of Assiut, and later . . . Read More

President Morsi for first time approves construction of new church in Egypt

June 11, 2013 Egypt Beheira, Copts, Hosni Mubarak, Mohamed Morsi

The architectural drawing of St. Peter and St. Paul’s Church in Nubaria received a stamp of approval.Watani Seventeen years have elapsed since the Coptic Church first requested permission to build a church in the town of Nubaria, Northern Egypt. On Friday (June 7) their wish was granted. But not . . . Read More

Egypt is at a crossroads, says Coptic Bishop

May 23, 2013 Egypt Copts, Hosni Mubarak, Islamic extremism, Upper Egypt

Bishop Thomas of the El-Qussia and Mair Diocese in Upper Egypt.Stefanus Alliance International/Wegge A “big force” is pushing Egypt towards greater conservatism and religious extremism, according to Bishop Thomas of the El-Qussia and Mair Diocese in Upper Egypt. However, he said he still believes Egypt can enjoy transformation of . . . Read More

Egyptian church burned

May 20, 2013 Egypt Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Pope Tawadros II, Sohag

Officially, no cause has been determined for the Sunday fire that caused extensive destruction to the Coptic Church of the Virgin Mary in Tema, Egypt. Unofficially, suspicion has fallen upon Muslims who, according to Mideast Christian News, distributed a leaflet in December with this warning: “To the Crusaders of Tema and sons of . . . Read More

The politics of violence

April 14, 2013 Egypt Copts, Egypt

Ahmed Zaki Osman has a piece posted at the Egypt Independent in which he views the violence against Egypt’s Copts during the past century through the prism of politics involving Egypt’s rulers and the coutnry’s Islamic blocs, with Christians as pawns. Osman’s timeline stretches back to the early days of the republic, following the sunset of . . . Read More

Words nice; action better

April 10, 2013 Egypt Copts, Egypt, Mohamed Morsi, Pope Tawadros II

Via BBC “We need action not only words,” Pope Tawadros II, leader of Egypt’s Coptic Christians, told the private ONTV channel this week. The words came from President Mohammed Morsi, who telephoned Tawadros after Sunday’s attack on St. Mark’s Cathedral, where two people were killed by a mob. Morsi denounced . . . Read More

Egypt’s Christians, fearing instability, seek security elsewhere

April 9, 2013 Egypt Arab Spring, Bishop Angaelos, Copts, Hosni Mubarak, Maspero, Mohamed Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood, Samalut

In downtown Cairo¬ mid-March, the multicolored pharaoh-motif tablecloths and dishtowels were missing from a fabric store once known for such items. The owner of the textile factory that produced them closed down and left Egypt soon after the country’s 2011 revolution. Assad Attiya, a clerk who has worked at the . . . Read More

Brief Salafi occupation of Coptic land part of larger problem, Copts say

November 11, 2012 Egypt Al-Nour Party, Copts, Maspero

It was a quick skirmish and no one was hurt, but it was typical of what Egypt’s Coptic leaders say are increasing attempts to harass Christians since the country’s 2011 revolution. The latest incident occurred Monday, Nov. 5 in the Shoubra el Kheima district of northern Cairo, where a Coptic . . . Read More

Egypt’s Copts can’t rely on new pope to secure their rights

November 5, 2012 Egypt Copts, Divorce, Hosni Mubarak, Pope Tawadros II

Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church found its 118th pope on Sunday. During a televised mass rich in tradition and drama at Cairo’s St. Mark Cathedral, the fingers of a blindfolded boy reached into a crystal chalice, wrapped around one of three transparent spheres, and pulled it out. The small, clear globe . . . Read More

Pope Benedict urges peace as radical Islamists target Western interests

September 14, 2012 Andrea Zaki, Asia, Benghazi, Copts, Egypt, Libya, Middle East, USA

Pope Benedict started a visit to Lebanon in the Middle East on Friday, as angry demonstrations and attacks on Western interests continued to spread across the region and into Asia. They came in the wake of the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya’s second city, which killed American . . . Read More

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