Tag: Tanta

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

Easter for Egypt’s Copts: mourning loved ones amid tight security

April 18, 2017 Egypt Alexandria, Beheira, Cairo, Copts, Kom El-Loufy, Tanta

During Easter Mass in St. Mark’s Cathedral in Alexandria deacons carried pictures of the seven people killed in the Palm Sunday attack. Photo: Open Doors International

Christians in Egypt celebrated Easter amid tight security and in a sombre mood. While worshippers gathered in both Alexandria and Tanta, in the churches that were attacked last Sunday, authorities made a number of arrests in connection with other possible planned attacks. However, violence continued in Kom El-Loufy, in the . . . Read More

Bombed Egypt church cancels Easter celebrations

April 13, 2017 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Easter, Palm Sunday, Pope Francis, Tanta

One of the priests at the Mar Girgis (St George) Cathedral in Tanta, one of two churches attacked by suicide bombers on Palm Sunday, says his church will not hold its usual Easter Day celebrations as a mark of respect towards the families affected. “There will not be any festivities, only . . . Read More

The uncountable cost of Egypt’s Palm Sunday attacks

April 13, 2017 Egypt Palm Sunday, Tanta

As Egyptian society slowly recovers from the shock of the twin suicide bomb attacks on two Coptic churches on Palm Sunday, the real picture of the devastation caused is starting to emerge. The victims have now been buried, while dozens of wounded Christians remain in hospital – some in a . . . Read More

Muslims in Egypt speak out against Palm Sunday attacks

April 12, 2017 Egypt Copts, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Tanta

More than 20 people lost their lives in the Palm Sunday attack on the St George Cathedral in Tanta, Egypt.

As Egypt’s Coptic Church lays to rest the victims of the Palm Sunday bomb attacks on two churches, voices from the Muslim community in the country have condemned the attacks and Muslim citizens have lined up to donate blood for the injured. Writing a blog for the website Patheos, Khwaia . . . 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

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

Motive unclear in attack on Copt priest’s daughter

July 8, 2016 Egypt Copts, Egypt, Sohag, Tanta

The reason why a 44-year-old government employee stabbed a local priest’s daughter outside a church in southern Egypt “remains unknown”, according to police sources. Lucia Murad, 14, survived a stab in the neck last weekend by a man identified by Watani only as “Muhammad T.E” in the bishopric of Sohag, 460km south . . . Read More

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