Forgiveness: Muslims Moved as Coptic Christians Do the Unimaginable

From Christianity Today-

Twelve seconds of silence is an awkward eternity on television. Amr Adeeb, perhaps the most prominent talk show host in Egypt, leaned forward as he searched for a response.

“The Copts of Egypt … are made of … steel!” he finally uttered.

Moments earlier, Adeeb was watching a colleague in a simple home in Alexandria speak with the widow of Naseem Faheem, the guard at St. Mark’s Cathedral in the seaside Mediterranean city.

On Palm Sunday, the guard had redirected a suicide bomber through the perimeter metal detector, where the terrorist detonated. Likely the first to die in the blast, Faheem saved the lives of dozens inside the church.

“I’m not angry at the one who did this,” said his wife, children by her side. “I’m telling him, ‘May God forgive you, and we also forgive you. Believe me, we forgive you.’

More here-

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/april-web-only/forgiveness-muslims-moved-coptic-christians-egypt-isis.html

ISIS Gunmen Attack St. Catherine's Monastery in Sinai

From Haaretz-

Gunmen opened fire on an Egyptian police checkpoint near the famed Saint Catherine's Monastery in Sinai late on Tuesday, killing one policeman and wounding four, security and medical officials said.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack via its news agency Amaq.

According to the officials, the gunmen were shooting from an elevated hilltop overlooking the police checkpoint just outside the monastery, which is located in a remote desert and mountainous area in the southern part of the Sinai Peninsula.

After an exchange of gunfire, the attackers fled the scene, the officials said, adding that some of the gunmen were wounded in the shootout. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity under regulations.

read more:

http://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/egypt/1.784140

Piers Morgan: ISIS war on Christianity ‘ought to be dominating cable news’

From The Washington Times-

Daily Mail editor-at-large Piers Morgan on Monday criticized the American media for paying more attention to isolated terrorist attacks in Europe while ignoring the Islamic State’s ongoing war on Christianity in the Middle East.

Appearing on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” Mr. Morgan lamented that “a handful of people being killed” in recent terrorist attacks in Stockholm and London have gotten “huge attention” in America, while coverage of suicide bombings on two Coptic Christian churches that killed dozens in Egypt on Palm Sunday appeared to be an afterthought.

“And yet, what happened in Egypt was unbelievably significant,” Mr. Morgan said.
“If you look at what ISIS really stands for, what they are carrying out now in the Middle East and in Egypt in particular, is a kind of genocidal attack on Christians and Christianity,” he said, using an acronym for the Islamic State terrorist group.

More here-

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/apr/11/piers-morgan-isis-war-on-christianity-ought-to-be-/

Vicar of Baghdad: 'When I invited Isil to dinner they said, "Yes, we’ll come, but we’ll chop off your head." Rather kind of them to warn me'

From The Telegraph-

For more than 10 years, Canon Andrew White presided over the only Anglican Church in Iraq, a role that led him to be known universally as the Vicar of Baghdad.

But his old parish of St George’s has become too dangerous, and today he leads a peripatetic life, spending time with his displaced congregation in Israel and Amman, Jordan.

He is, in effect, a vicar without a parish. Recently he was to be found in Britain conducting a private service for ‘Christians in Government’ at St Margaret’s church, Westminster. For the past 17 years White, 52, has suffered from multiple sclerosis, so he would normally sit to conduct a service.

More here-

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/vicar-of-baghdad-when-i-invited-isil-to-dinner-they-said-yes-wel/

Anglican leader in Iraq suspended in ISIS funding inquiry

From RNS-

The Rev. Andrew White, acclaimed as the Anglican “Vicar of Baghdad” for his outreach among Iraqi Christians, has been suspended with pay and his British charity placed under official investigation over allegations that money used to redeem sex slaves ended up in the hands of the Islamic State.

“We never gave the bad guys one penny,” White said in denying the charges.

The U.K.’s official Charity Commission on Thursday (June 23) “confirmed that it opened a statutory inquiry into the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East on June 9, 2016.”

More here-

http://religionnews.com/2016/06/23/anglican-leader-in-iraq-suspended-in-isis-funding-inquiry/

Anglican bishop expresses horror at ISIS killing of Ethiopian Christians

From ENS-

The Anglican bishop for Ethiopia has hailed as martyrs 28 Ethiopian Christians shot or beheaded in Libya by members of the terrorist group known as ISIS or ISIL.

LeMarquand is Anglican Area Bishop for the Horn of Africa (Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia and Ethiopia) and Assistant Bishop of the Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa.

“It is too early to learn the names of these newest martyrs. It is also too early to know what churches they came from.” the bishop said.

“I have just learned the horrifying news that as many as twenty-eight Ethiopian Christians have been shot or beheaded in Libya by members of the terrorist group known as ISIS or ISIL. This alarming act of violence against those that ISIS calls ‘people of the cross’ comes just two months after twenty-one other Christians – twenty Egyptians and one Ghanian, were beheaded on a Libyan beach.” Bishop Grant LeMarquand said in a letter to be read in Ethopian churches and distributed overseas.

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2015/04/21/anglican-bishop-expresses-horror-at-isis-killing-of-ethiopian-christians/

POPE FRANCIS DENOUNCES ISIS SLAUGHTER: ‘THEIR BLOOD CONFESSES CHRIST’

From Breibert-

This morning, Pope Francis condemned the brutal slaying of 21 Coptic Christians perpetrated by ISIS in Libya over the weekend, proclaiming them martyrs killed out of hatred of their Christian faith.

At 10:30 am Monday, the Pope met with Rev. John P. Chalmers, Moderator of the Church of Scotland (Reformed), along with other representatives of the Church of Scotland.

At the end of his prepared speech, the Pope switched to his native language and continued off the cuff in Spanish, turning to the events in Libya, and said that the witness of these brother Christians should move all Christian communions to draw closer to one another.

More here-

http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/02/16/pope-francis-denounces-isis-slaughter-their-blood-confesses-christ/