'With Our Souls, Our Blood, We Will Defend the Cross': Coptic Christians Cry Out at Funerals

"We would like to tell them (the attackers) that we still love them despite what happened."

Coptic Christians mourn the death of seven believers during
a funeral in Egypt on November 3, 2018.

By Stoyan Zaimov
Christian Post

The Coptic Christian community in Egypt is crying out in grief and anger following the funerals of seven believers who were killed by Islamic militants near a monastery in Minya.

The attack on Friday, which left at least another 19 people injured, prompted a swift response from Egyptian police, who say that they killed 19 militants in a shoot-out into the desert area west of Minya province.

AFP reported that the first victim, an Anglican, was buried on Friday, while the other six Coptic Christians were carried out in white coffins on Saturday by hundreds of mourners. The crowds reportedly shouted "with our souls, with our blood, we will defend the cross!"

Bishop Makarios of Minya said following the funerals that "we will not forget the promises of officials, including the president of the republic, that the criminals will be punished."

The Islamic State terror group claimed responsibility for Friday's massacre, which comes a year after 28 believers were killed travelling to the same monastery in May 2017.

Egypt's interior ministry said that police pursued the militants and discovered a tent where they had been hiding. Officers found guns, riffles, and IS propaganda.

Copts, who make up only around 10 percent of the local population, have called for better protection as radical Islamic danger remains high in Egypt.

"What do these terrorists want? Do they want us to hate Muslims?" asked one mourner, identified only as Michael, who lost a neighbor on Friday, when the militants attacked two buses near the Minya monastery.

During Saturday's funerals, mourners remembered those they lost.

"He was the best child ... I'll never see him again," said an elderly woman, who wasn't named.

Rad Noseer Mitri, priest of Mar Girgis Church, suggested that forgiveness is possible even in such a situation.

"We would like to tell them (the attackers) that we still love them despite what happened. We have a question though — why are you doing this to us? We do not commit malice towards anyone," Mitri said, according to Reuters.

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Egypt's Persecuted Coptic Christians Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

"Coptic Christians have consistently refused to retaliate and continue to practice peaceful coexistence."

Mourners at St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral for
funeral of four slain Christians. (Photo Morning Star News)

By Michael Gryboski
Christian Post

Egypt's persecuted Coptic Christian minority has been nominated for the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize, reportedly the first ethno-religious group given such an honor.

While the Norwegian Nobel Committee doesn't release the names of nominees, the charity Coptic Orphans announced the nomination on their Facebook page in a post from Tuesday, noting that they were nominated for their refusal to retaliate against recent acts of anti-Christian violence.

There are 331 nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize this year, which includes 216 individuals and 115 groups, making it the second highest number of candidates since 2016, when there were 376.

The recipient of the Peace Prize will be announced on Friday, Oct. 5, with the official award acceptance ceremony being held in December.

In a statement released in response to the news, Coptic Orphans noted the persecution that the Church has endured in Egypt since 2011, when the "Arab Spring" protests led to the overthrow of long-serving dictator Hosni Mubarak.

"According to a 2018 report by the Christian charity Open Doors, Christians in Egypt face 'unprecedented levels of persecution.' Last year, according to the report, 128 Egyptian Christians were killed for their faith and more than 200 were driven out of their homes," the organization said.

"Despite this, Coptic Christians have consistently refused to retaliate and continue to practice peaceful coexistence."

Over the last few years, Coptic Christians have been subjected to numerous brutal attacks and church bombings carried by Islamic extremists.

For example, in May 2017 Islamic extremists attacked a group of Coptic Christians on their way to a monastery south of Cairo, killing around 30.

In October 2011, over 20 Copts were killed and around 200 injured in violent clashes after the Christian minority was protesting increased persecution of churches.

Earlier this year, a female Coptic journalist named Engy Magdy wrote an op-ed published by the Brooklyn-based Catholic news website The Tablet documenting how life for Christian women in Egypt was "hell."

"To be a woman in a country where most of her people see women as a disgrace, and at best look at her from a sexual point of view, it is a heavy burden, but even worse when you are a Christian woman," wrote Magdy.

"Most Muslim women in Egypt wear a hijab and therefore, the others who do not wear it are most likely Coptic. ... This means that the Egyptian man thinks he has the right to harass her, simply because he sees her as a whore and a disbeliever."

Martyred for their Faith Throughout the Ages, Coptic Christians Continue to Die for Christ Today

Coptic Pope Tawadros II attends a Vespers Service during his visit to the UK

By Ruth Gledhill
Christian Today

Most people in Egypt oppose the persecution of Christians, the leader of the Coptic Orthodox church said during his visit to the UK.

Pope Tawadros II was speaking at the Coptic Cathedral of St George in Hertfordshire after a shocking rise in attacks on Christians in Egypt in which dozens have died, including church bombings on Good Friday where he himself was a target.

But Pope Tawadros said it is not just Christians, but Muslims and others who are also being attacked – anyone in fact who presents a life of cohesion and community to the world.

'We are being persecuted by some who do not want us to remain in the Middle East, but it is by no means the majority of Egypt. We have seen police officers, soldiers and simple men and women, not only Christians but Muslims, also dying. This targeting is of a cohesive way of life,' he said.

In his address, delivered at a service of Vespers, Pope Tawadros linked Egypt's rich history to the way in which many Coptic Christians remain steadfast in their Faith today.

'In the same way Coptic Christians have given their lives in martyrdom throughout the ages, they continue to be killed for their faith today. Both teachings and martyrdom have contributed to the preservation of the Christian faith.'

He also voiced concern about how terrorists use technology.

'This dynamic has contributed to the increased violence and terrorism we experience in our world today. Together we must work to present the love of Christ for everyone, in any place, at any time.

 Therefore, we in Egypt depend on the words which Saint Paul, who instructs us that "Love never fails" (1 Corinthians 13:8). Our relations, whether inside or outside Egypt, must depend on the notion that "love never fails" and we must present love in action.'

Christian Today continues

'The Church was Filled with the Bodies of the Dead': Egypt Palm Sunday Bombing Survivors Speak Out

People watch as the coffins of victims arrive to the Coptic church that
was bombed on Sunday, in Tanta, Egypt, April 9, 2017. Reuters

By Mark Woods

Christian Today

Abanoub Gamal, a member of St George's, told World Watch Monitor: 'I was standing behind the back pews, next to the church door. At about 9.05am I noticed a man wearing a brown jacket enter the church and walk among the pews from the back to the front ... [He] stood in front of the church altar and he then exploded himself.'

He continued: 'Then there was a huge explosion, the lights went off, all the people screamed, the situation was terrible. The church was filled with the bodies of the dead, body parts and the injured. Blood was splattered all over the place and reached the church ceiling.'
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Gamal said he believed the Bishop of Tanta, Paula, was targeted but escaped death because he was not the celebrant at yesterday's Mass. However, 'the blast destroyed his chair by the altar'.

Video footage shows a robed male choir singing in the moments before the explosion, when the picture cuts out and shouting and screaming can be heard. Most victims were men and many were deacons because the suicide bomber detonated his vest near to the pews in which the men sit.

Mobile phone footage from the moments after the blast shows palm fronds in pools of blood, the floor of the church spattered with in blood, dust and masonry, and the decapitated body of one of the dead being carried out on a stretcher. One woman is heard screaming hysterically, while other members of the congregation move pews to get to the injured.

Eyewitnesses said of the Alexandria attack that the suicide bomber tried to enter the church as worshippers were leaving. A member of the congregation, Mina Makram, said one of the cathedral's guards, a man named Nasim, 'stopped him, prevented him from entering the cathedral, and asked him to pass through a metal detector first. The man entered the detector briefly, then took a step back and exploded the suicide vest he was wearing under his jacket.'

She said Nasim's actions had saved many lives, including that of Pope Tawadros, at whom she said she believed the attack was aimed.

'Pope Tawadros was targeted to be killed... if this suicide bomber had been able to enter the church, the number of the victims would have been more,' she said.

Christian Today: Coptic Christian Survivors Accounts Continues

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ISRAEL CLOSES BORDER WITH EGYPT AMID SINAI TERROR CONCERNS

EGYPTIAN AND ISRAELI flags flutter next to each other
at the Taba border crossing.  (photo credit:REUTERS)

By JP Staff

Jerusalem Post

Israel will not allow its citizens to enter Egypt through the crossing, however Israeli citizens will be permitted to return to the country via the Taba crossing.

Israel on Monday decided to close its side of the Taba Border Crossing between Eilat and Egypt in light of concerns of terrorist attacks targeting tourists, including Israelis, in the volatile Sinai Peninsula.

Following security assessments, as of Monday and at least until April 18, Israel will not allow its citizens to enter Egypt through the crossing, however Israeli citizens will be permitted to return to the country via the Taba crossing.

The Prime Minister's Office announced the move in a statement that cited "the intensifying activities" of Islamic State-affiliated terrorists in the Sinai region in recent months.

The government therefore urged all Israelis currently in the Sinai Peninsula to immediately leave the area and return to Israel. Israelis have long-flocked in holiday exodus to the Sinai region during the Jewish celebration of Passover, which begins Monday at sundown.

Monday's decision came the day after the National Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Bureau re-upped its already stringent warning against travel to Sinai in the wake of bombing attacks against Coptic Christians in Egypt that claimed more than 40 lives and left more than 100 wounded. Islamic State claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack.

The standing warning – not to go to Sinai and to leave immediately if already there – was reiterated at a special meeting of the bureau, reflecting a severe increase in the immediate threat facing Israelis there.

Sunday’s attacks in Egypt reflects the capabilities of ISIS, which in recent months have intensified its activities in Sinai, a statement from the bureau read.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the world must unite and fight terrorism everywhere. He sent a message offering condolences to the families of victims, and wished a speedy recovery to those who were wounded in the attacks.

Herb Keinon contributed to this report. 

Website: Jerusalem Post


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Israel ups security level along Egypt's Sinai border