Another Massacre of Christians in Egypt

A prayer for the new martyrs of the Palm Sunday massacre in Egypt

Source: Aleteia

O New Martyrs, slain at worship as we enter into our holiest days, you now number among the ancient holy ones. Before the throne of the Almighty, we beg you to keep us particularly in your prayers. Once again we are focused on the mysterious geography where humanity first came into being, and then into contact with the Reality of the One God — the lands where all will someday finally be revealed.

Today, we ponder why it is that our attention is continually turned to this region in gasping sorrow, all due to a malevolent force as old as Eden. We know that Christ Jesus is the Victor over death, and the Victor over evil, but we acknowledge that the victories come only by way of His Cross. O New Martyrs, you and the people of your region share in that Cross and we, in spirit, share it with you. In the presence of the Perfect Wisdom — the Holy, Mighty One who imparts all that is True, teach us to pray the words that will bring peace, if peace is possible, or to pray the words of pure worship, contrition and trust, if it is not.

Pray that we may learn how to become the peace we seek.

Pray that we may put aside all that is irrelevant to the moment and, looking forever to the East, prepare our spirits for the engagements into which we may be called, whether we live amid these places of ancient roads and portals, or in the most modern of dwellings.

Mary, the God-bearer, pray for us,
Saint Michael the Archangel, pray for us,
Saint John the Forerunner, pray for us,
Saint Charbel Makhlouf, pray for us,
Saints Mariam Baouardy and Marie-Alphonsine of Palestine, pray for us,
Blessed Charles de Foucauld, pray for us,

All Holy Men and Women, pray for us.
Amen, Amen.

Persecuted Christians does not include the Iglesia Ni Cristo of Manalo (1914)! Remember them this Holy Week!

Please remember them this Holy Week!

"Do not be afraid, I am with you" -Isaiah 41:10

Who can stop the Faith of Christians from spreading? Contrary to what anti-Catholics preached to their followers such as the Iglesia Ni Cristo® Church of Felix Manalo in 1914, the Catholic Church is still the widest persecuted Church in the world yet still the only Church that was founded by Jesus Christ from 33 A.D. to the Third Millenium and is still ALIVE! For the Spirit of the Lord guideth the Church and "he will remain with us forever" (John 14:16) -CD2000

Coptic Catholics consecrate first church in Sinai, against backdrop of martyrdom

Divine Liturgy for the dedication of Our Lady of Peace, the first Coptic Catholic church on the Sinai peninsula, Feb. 15, 2015. Credit: Aid to the Church in Need.

By Oliver Maksan originally posted in Catholic News Agency

Ismailia, Egypt, Feb 20, 2015 (Aid to the Church in Need).- “The Church in Egypt has been strengthened by the murder of our brothers in Libya.” Such was the reaction of Coptic Catholic Bishop Youssef Aboul-Kheir of Sohag to the beheading of 21 Orthodox Coptic men in Libya by Islamic State affiliates.

The guest workers in Libya "suffered a holy death with prayers on their lips. They went to their deaths just like the early Christians,” the bishop told international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need.

As fate would have it, Islamic State released gruesome video of the executions on the very day, Feb. 15, that Egypt’s Coptic Catholic Church celebrated the consecration of its first-ever church in Sinai, in the community of Sharm El-Sheikh.

The church is known as Our Lady of Peace: a name chosen by Suzanne Mubarak, wife of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.

Suzanne, who was educated by Catholic nuns, ensured that construction of the church could proceed after years of delay and opposition by local political leadership. Our Lady of Peace's construction was also made possible through the financial support of Aid to the Church in Need.

“This is a great day of joy for Catholics in Egypt,” the local ordinary, Coptic Catholic Bishop Makarios Tewfik of Ismailia, said at the consecration ceremony.

“We have a number of places of worship in Sinai” – a famous tourist destination where hundreds of hotels line the coast known for its spectacular coral reef – “but these are chapels or even just rooms in normal houses,” he said. “The church of Our Lady of Peace is the first proper church building that was built for the sole purpose of worshiping God.”

Father Bolos Garas, the local pastor, will celebrate three services in the church every Sunday.

“I am a Coptic Catholic priest. However, there are very few Coptic Catholics here: just a handful of families. Most of our faithful are tourists or foreign workers. For this reason I not only celebrate Sunday Mass according to my Church’s rites, but also according to the Roman rites, in both Italian and English,” he said.

The English-language service will primarily cater to Filipinos, guest workers in the local hotel industry, while a sizeable community of Italian retirees who spend winters in Sharm El-Sheikh will hear Mass in their own language.

Patriarch Ibrahim I Sidrak, head of the 200,000-member strong Coptic Catholic Church, presided over the consecration ceremony.

Meanwhile, the brutal killing of the 21 men hangs like a cloud over Egypt’s Christian community, which already faces home-grown Islamic extremism.

"I am afraid of the Salafists in the country,” said Bishop Aboul-Kheir, who added, “they speak with forked tongues. The Muslim Brotherhood is opposed to society anyway. So there exists an internal danger in Egypt itself."

Egypt’s Christian leaders are concerned that extremists may be voted into power during upcoming parliamentary elections.

The new parliament should ensure that “Christians will finally be able to live as equal citizens," the bishop said, stressing that among other rights, religious liberty for all should guarantee the freedom to construct new churches.

Bishop Aboul-Kheir called on the country’s Muslim community to choose moderation.

Its highest theological and intellectual forum, he said, “the Al-Azhar University, is regarded as a moderate force.” However, he continued, “there are many aspects of the institution’s teachings and programs that are anything but moderate. For example, the use of force in cases that are considered apostasy by Muslims” – including their conversion to Christianity – “is justified. This contradicts moderate views.”

Oliver Maksan writes for Aid to the Church in Need, an international Catholic charity under the guidance of the Holy See, providing assistance to the suffering and persecuted Church in more than 140 countries. www.churchinneed.org (USA);www.acnuk.org (UK);www.aidtochurch.org (AUS); www.acnireland.org (IRL);www.acn-aed-ca.org (CAN)

Update: 23 houses belonging to Copts burned down

Remember the video I just uploaded yesterday-- the threat of a Muslim religious woman saying they (Muslims) will burn Christians? Now it's happening.

DPA

The situation has heated up in Naga Hassan village, west of Luxor, after the killing of a Muslim man and the injury of a Copt on Friday.

The number of houses belonging to Copts that have been burned is now 23. Police fired teargas bombs to stop the clashes.

Police are protecting dozens of Copts at the police station near the area where the clashes are taking place. Security has been enhanced around Dabe’iya church, for fear of an attack. The police and military troops have exerted a huge effort to end the clashes.

Egyptian Muslim Woman Threatens Christians after Morsi's Ouster.

RIP: Pope Shenouda III of the Coptic Church

We join the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI for extending our deepest sympathies for our brethren in Egypt for the loss of His Holiness Pope Shenouda III of the Coptic Church.

Read: Why Pope Shenouda is called "pope"?

Alexandria: forced eviction of 62 Coptic families by the Salafis

Cairo (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The radical Muslims are trying to empty a village near Alexandria of its Coptic population - 62 families, on the basis of unfounded allegations against a Copt. The Copts of Kobry-el-Sharbat (el-Amerya) were attacked on Jan. 27 by a crowd of some three thousand Muslims led by Salafi leaders who set fire to the Copts houses and shops. The violence were sparked by the allegations of a barber Muslim Toemah, who claimed that a Coptic tailor of 34, Samy Mourad Guirgis, had "illegal" photos of a Muslim woman on his cell phone. Mourad has denied the charges, and turned himself in to police in fear of his life. The Muslims set fire to his house and his shop, and his whole family was forced to leave the village. Mourad is still under police custody.

Since then there have been three "reconciliation meetings" in the police headquarters in el-Amerya, attended by representatives of the Coptic Church, the Salafis and the Muslim Brotherhood. According to police, the woman concerned has denied the whole story, and no compromising photos of any kind were found Mourad’s cell phone. But radical Muslims argue that "Muslim honor has been damaged," and at the first meeting, they refused any type of compensation for the Copts who were innocent victims of their violence.

EGYPT: Truth and justice not lies and superficiality on massacre of Copts

by Bernardo Cervellera

The results of the autopsies will be released Oct. 27. But Egyptian army trying to silence the issue by manipulating the truth and accusing the Copts of provoking the violence despite the eyewitness accounts and videos. Shenouda III is opposed to the military’s version. Obama also assumes that the Copts were violent. Not to forget AsiaNews publishes some pictures of the massacre, sent by Coptic organizations. (Let us keep in our prayers our brothers and sisters in Egypt. Let us recommend the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen -CD2000)

Rome (AsiaNews) - The tortured bodies of Coptic Christians killed on 9 October demand truth and justice. The 26 still bloody corpses, heads smashed by the violence of military tanks and armored vehicles are piled up in of Cairo's Coptic Hospital and other hospitals in the city waiting for autopsy. Ihsan Kamel, head of forensic medicine, said it will take time and that the results will be published only on October 27. He also claimed that declarations made by forensic doctors in the past week may be inaccurate. (More disturbing photos... WARNING: The images presented here are very harsh and could upset sensitive viewers. To see the images click here.)

Perhaps this warning is due to scrupulousness and scientific accuracy. We hope it is not an attempt to discredit the eye-witness accounts of demonstrators or the evidence of doctors who stressed that the deaths of several victims was caused by bullets from firearms and from the crushing weight of heavy vehicles.

Catholic Church leader pays tribute to fallen demonstrators in Egypt

Source: Church to the Church in need - The leader of Catholics in Egypt has defended the memory of "honest and sincere" Copts whose protest ended in violence and death and has called on the regime to step up security and do more to uphold the rule of law.

In an official statement about the October 9th pro-Christian demonstrations in Cairo, Patriarch Cardinal Antonios Naguib of Alexandria went on to call on Christians not to be deterred and to continue to “participate” in political action towards the creation of a new Egypt post-Mubarak.

The document, a copy of which was sent to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), underlines the Patriarch’s “full confidence” in the interim military regime after a week of criticism about the government’s response to the demonstrations, which according to latest figures, led to the deaths of about 25 people with 329 injured.

Patriarch Naguib, who is head of Egypt’s 250,000-strong Coptic Catholic Church, writes: “With wounded hearts, we…express our deep sorrow for the bloody events suffered by honest and sincere children of the nation.”

Europe's Bishops Call Continent to Defend Egypt Minorities

Photo Source: Malta Diocese

Reiterate Solidarity With Coptic Christian Community

ST. GALLEN, Switzerland, OCT. 13, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Europe's bishops are answering Sunday's violence in Egypt with a call to their governments to take a stance in defense of minorities.

Cardinal Péter Erdő, president of the Council of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe (CCEE), released a statement reiterating the prelates' "closeness to all citizens in Egypt, and especially to our brothers in the Coptic Christian community, affected in these days by the murderous violence against peace, harmony between religions, freedom and human dignity."

The statement follows the bloody weekend clash between Egyptian military and police and a group of mostly Coptic Christian protestors. The clash left 26 people dead. Witnesses said the Copts were attacked by crowds throwing stones, followed by military intervention. Some of those killed died of gunshot wounds, but most were crushed by armored military vehicles.

Copts and other Christians make up 10% of Egypt's population. The demonstrators were protesting the burning of a Christian church.

The bishops' council pointed out that Coptic Christians have been present in Egypt since the time of the Evangelist Mark.

Egypt's deputy premier quits over deadly clashes

Egyptian Coptic men carry the coffin of a victim of Sunday's deadly clashes with security forces during a funeral at Abassaiya Cathedral in Cairo. Thousands of people attended a service at the Copt cathedral for the funerals of 17 demonstrators.(AFP/Mohammed Hossam)

News Source: AFP By Jailan Zayan

CAIRO (AFP) - Egypt's deputy prime minister resigned on Tuesday over clashes that killed 25 people, mainly Coptic Christians, amid mounting anger at the ruling military and calls for the premier to quit.

Hazem al-Beblawi announced his resignation, saying that despite having no direct involvement in the clashes, the government ultimately bore responsibility for what happened.

"The current circumstances are very difficult and require a new and different way of thinking and working," Beblawi was quoted as saying by the official MENA news agency.

On Sunday, 25 people were killed and more than 300 injured when a protest demonstration by Coptic Christians was attacked by the army and thugs, sparking furious condemnation of the leadership's handling of the transition from Hosni Mubarak's rule.

Military prosecutors said they have remanded 28 people in custody -- both Muslims and Christians-- for 15 days pending investigations, MENA reported.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which took power when Mubarak was ousted in February, had tasked Prime Minister Essam Sharaf's government to immediately form a fact-finding panel to investigate the clashes.

The UN human rights office urged Egypt to ensure that any probes are conducted in an impartial and independent manner.

Fresh riots in Egypt left 24 people dead

Clashes erupt at a protest of a recent attack on a
church in Cairo Egypt, Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011. Fierce clashes
erupted Sunday between Christians protesting a recent attack
on a church and the Egyptian military, leaving more than a
dozen people dead and scores injured, Health Ministry
officials said. (AP Photo/Ahmed Ali)

24 dead in worst Cairo riots since Mubarak ouster

CAIRO (AP) — Flames lit up downtown Cairo, where massive clashes raged Sunday, drawing Christians angry over a recent church attack, Muslims and Egyptian security forces. At least 24 people were killed and more than 200 injured in the worst sectarian violence since the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak in February.

The rioting lasted late into the night, bringing out a deployment of more than 1,000 security forces and armored vehicles to defend the state television building along the Nile, where the trouble began. The military clamped a curfew on the area until 7 a.m.

The clashes spread to nearby Tahrir Square, drawing thousands of people to the vast plaza that served as the epicenter of the protests that ousted Mubarak. On Sunday night, they battled each other with rocks and firebombs, some tearing up pavement for ammunition and others collecting stones in boxes.

At one point, an armored security van sped into the crowd, striking a half-dozen protesters and throwing some into the air. Protesters retaliated by setting fire to military vehicles, a bus and private cars, sending flames rising into the night sky.

Who are Coptic Christians?

Coptic is a general term used for CHRISTIANS in EGYPT. According to the video below (thanks to Dar Al Masih for the link), there are TWO COPTIC CHRISTIAN GROUPS. One is the Coptic Orthodox and the other is Coptic Catholic. The latter belongs to the WORLDWIDE CATHOLIC CHURCH.-CD2000

Here is from Wikipedia:

The Coptic Catholic Church is an Alexandrian Rite particular Church in full communion with the Pope of Rome (it is thus part of the larger worldwide Roman Catholic Church). Historically, Coptic Catholics represent a schism from the Coptic Orthodox Church, leaving that church in order to come into full communion with the Bishop of Rome. The current Coptic Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria is Archbishop Antonios Naguib, who replaced Stephanos II Ghattas in 2005. The offices of the Patriarchate are located in Cairo. The Cathedral (Our Lady of Egypt) is located in Nasr City, a modern suburb of Cairo.

In 1824 the Holy See created a Patriarchate for Coptic Catholics, but it existed only on paper. The Ottoman authorities permitted the Coptic Catholics to begin building their own churches in 1829.

In 1895 Pope Leo XIII re-established the Patriarchate.

Religious orders

The Catholic Coptic Church does not have Coptic monasteries. Instead the Church has religious congregations such as the three communities for women: the Sisters of the Sacred Heart, the Coptic Sisters of Jesus and Mary (both based in Egypt) and the Egyptian Province of the Little Sisters of Jesus. There is also a community of male Franciscans.

Educational and health services

Most candidates for the priesthood are trained at St. Leo’s Patriarchal Seminary, in suburban Cairo. More than 100 Coptic Catholic parishes administer primary schools, and some have secondary schools as well. The church maintains a hospital, a number of medical dispensaries and clinics, and several orphanages.

Coptic Catholics have several religious orders, modelled on western monastic communities, involved in educational, medical, and charitable activities.

Egypt Christian Copts sentences over church scuffle

By AFP

Egyptian Coptic Christians demonstrate in Cairo in March 2011. An Egyptian military court on Sunday sentenced two Coptic Christians to five years in jail for violence and trying to turn a factory into an unlicensed church, judicial sources said.(AFP/File/Aris Messinis)

CAIRO (AFP) - An Egyptian military court on Sunday sentenced two Coptic Christians to five years in jail for violence and trying to turn a factory into an unlicensed church, judicial sources said.

The two men, also convicted of possessing weapons, were arrested on May 18 after clashes between Christians and Muslims in Cairo's Ain Shams district as the Copts planned to hold prayers in the building.

A Coptic-led group that took part in a reconciliation meeting between the two sides says the two men are innocent and their lawyers will try to appeal the ruling.

Sameh Abdel Satar, a member of the Egypt Lovers and Peace Society, said the Coptic Church had obtained permission in January to convert the building, which it had purchased in 2006, into a church.

Muslims Attack Christians in Egypt, 12 Killed, 232 Injured

By Mary Abdelmassih

(AINA) -- Christians Copts in the area of Embaba were attacked Saturday evening by Muslim Salafis. The attacks lasted for 14 hours. The Muslims fired guns and rifles and hurled Molotov cocktails at Coptic churches, houses and businesses. 12 Copts were killed and 232 injured.

The church of Saint Mina church was the first to be attacked. According to its pastor Fr. Abanoub the attack started at 5.30 PM on Saturday May 7, when church parishioners noticed a large number of Salafis, estimated at 3000 men, congregating near the church. Anticipating trouble, the army was called. The Salafis went to the church and asked to search it because they believed a Christian girl named called Abir, who had converted to Islam, married a Salafi and wanted to revert back to Christianity, was hiding inside the church. The Muslims circulated a rumor that the husband of Abir received a call from her asking him to save her as she was being "tortured" inside the church.

The governor of Giza said that there are no girls hiding in St. Mina Church. He falsely claimed that things were under control and a "reconciliation" meeting will be arranged for tomorrow. The army later cordoned off the entire district of Embaba.

Egyptians protest against sectarianism

By AFP

CAIRO (AFP) - Hundreds of Egyptians holding up crosses and Korans massed Friday in Cairo's Tahrir Square to protest against sectarianism, following religious clashes that left at least 13 people dead.

"Muslims and Christians are one," chanted flag-waving protesters in the swelling crowd, as others held up banners depicting an entwined cross and crescent.

The rally comes day after Egypt's new military rulers met with representatives of Christian Copts in a bid to allay fears of a return to sectarian violence.

Bloody fighting erupted on Tuesday in the working class Cairo district of Moqattam when Muslims confronted 1,000 Christians who had been blocking a main road in protest at the burning of a church last week.

Cairo, Al-Azhar condemns violence against Christians

The death toll rises to 13 from clashes between Copts and Muslims in recent days in Cairo, after the burning of a church. The violence has mainly involved the landfill district of Mansheya.

Cairo (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Grand Imam from the Islamic University of Al - Azhar, Sheikh Ahmad al-Tayyib, condemns the attack on the Coptic Church of Soul, which took place on 5 March. In a press release, the Islamic leader has called the action a "distortion of Islam" and called on the Muslim community to rebuild the village church to defuse the climate of tension and violence between Copts and Muslims.

After the fire of the Coptic Church of St. Mina and St. George in Soul (30 km from Cairo) Copts, Muslims and pro-democracy activists returned to the streets of the capital in protest. From March 6 thousands of Christians, supported by many Muslims, have protested outside the headquarters of the Egyptian TV, asking for the reconstruction of the building. Demonstrations have also taken place in Tahrir Square.

Muslims and Christians Clash in Cairo over a burnt Church

Let us offer our sacrifices during this Lenten season for all persecuted Christians in the Middle East, in Communist China and in places where political and social conflicts are intense. Pray for our persecutors that they may know we are followers of Christ. - CD2000

Cairo Muslims, Christians clash during church protest

By Reuters

CAIRO (Reuters) - About 1,300 Christians and Muslims threw stones and Molotov cocktails at each other on Tuesday during a protest over the burning of a church, an Egyptian security source said.

Christians were protesting for the second day over a church in Helwan on the outskirts of Cairo that was set on fire after a row sparked by a relationship between a Christian man and a Muslim woman, witnesses and a security source said.

About 20 people were injured in the latest sectarian flare-up, and five cars were burned during the clash between the groups, estimated at a total of 1,300 people, the source said.

The fighting erupted up when a group of Christians blocked a main highway and clashed with Muslims who wanted to pass through, a security source said.

"They began fighting because people in their cars wanted to pass through and the protesters had blocked the highway," the security source said.

Egyptian Christians protest over a church burning

By Reuters

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian Christians protested for a second day on Monday after a church was set on fire on the outskirts of Cairo, the latest sectarian flare-up in a country already facing political turmoil.

About 5,000 people gathered outside the state television building late into Monday night, a bigger crowd than the 1,000 or so that had demonstrated late on Sunday and into Monday morning. Some Muslims joined the mostly Christian protest.

"Oh Field Marshal, why are you silent?" they chanted, a reference to Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi who heads Egypt's ruling military council, which has been in power since Hosni Mubarak stepped down on February 11 amid widespread protests.

Tantawi has said the army would rebuild the church before Easter holidays.