Copts make up roughly 10 percent of the Egyptian population. They have been the target of revenge attacks by Muslim mobs ever since Egypt’s first Islamist president Mohamed Morsi was overthrown in a military coup in 2013. Over 40 Christian churches all over Egypt were gutted by arson and looted – some over a thousand years old and full of priceless relics — in the months after Morsi was toppled. Copts have also been murdered in ongoing sectarian violence.
The Christians do not respond in kind. One of the Coptic Church’s senior leaders, Bishop Thomas, says revenge is not the Christian’s way. “Forgiveness is a very important principle in the Christian life,” he says. “When you are able to present forgiveness, and love, you are able as well to ask for justice.”
We remain in prayer for our brothers and sisters of the Coptic Orthodox Christian Church in Egypt as they are persecuted for their faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
“Christianity crackdown: Horror as ‘man with sharp tool’ attacks prayer service – ‘Awful,’” by Tom Nellist, Express, November 15, 2018:
CHRISTIANS in Egypt were attacked during a prayer service by a man wielding a “sharp tool” and shouting Islamic slogans.
According to Egyptian Sunday newspaper Watani, based in Cairo, and human rights NGO International Christian Concern (ICC), two people were injured in the violence, which is the latest in a string of anti-Christian attacks.
ICC said a 22-year-old man injured two Christians who were attending the Church of St George in the Egyptian capital.
The man is said to have been shouting Islamic slogans before police rushed to the scene and arrested him.
ICC said local Christians have criticised the Egyptian authorities explanation that the man carried out the attack because of mental health problems and drug use.
They say the claim is “an attempt to hide Islamic extremism” in Egypt.
The man reportedly entered the church through a side room in which clergy baked bread for use in services.
He struck a baker on the head with an iron rod while shouting “Allah is great”.
When another Christian tried to help, he was also injured.
Ehad, a Christian worshipper in Egypt, told ICC: “The media uses words which don’t reveal the truth.
“Now we have discovered that this was a young man, not an old one.
“Also, he was holding a Koran and sharp tool, injuring some people on their heads.
“The media’s role is to reveal the reality and not to hide information to make the Coptic Christians calm down.”…
