The Episcopal / Anglican Province of Alexandria officially inaugurated as 41st Province of the Anglican Communion

From Anglican News-

The former Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa has completed its transition into an autonomous Province of the Anglican Communion. The approval for the move was given by the Primates of the Anglican Communion when they met in Jordan in January. The Standing Committee of the Anglican Consultative Council had already given the new Province the go-ahead.

The General Synod of the Episcopal Church of Jerusalem and the Middle East approved the request from the Diocese of Jerusalem and the Middle East to secede from its province. Under its constitution, the diocese fell under the temporary Metropolitical authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who signed a Dead of Relinquishment legally inaugurating the new Episcopal / Anglican Province of Alexandria.

The Episcopal / Anglican Province of Alexandria will serve 10 countries as the official Anglican Communion presence: Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Chad, Mauritania, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia. It is named after the north Egyptian city which was home to one of the earliest branches of the Christian Church.

Announcing the development, the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon, said: “In recent years we have seen enormous growth in what was the Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa, particularly – but not only – in the Gambella region of Ethiopia. It was one of the largest and most diverse dioceses in the Anglican Communion and also one of the fastest growing regions.

More here-

http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2020/06/the-episcopal-anglican-province-of-alexandria-officially-inaugurated-as-41st-province-of-the-anglican-communion.aspx

Facing Torture, Death in Sudan, Convert Flees to Egypt—Only to Receive More Death Threats

From Christian News Network-

“I started to read by myself, comparing the Bible with the Koran, and found that something must be wrong with the God of the Koran who incites Muslim to kill in his name,” he said. “I wondered what kind of God is that, and then one day Jesus appeared to me at night with a very bright light. I was afraid, but He told me not to fear.”

By 2007, his family and friends began abandoning him after noting he had stopped fasting during Ramadan and saying Islamic prayers. He said he discovered that God cares more about the inner heart than ritual obligations.

In 2014 Osman took a train from Khartoum north to Halfa, just over the Egyptian side of the border. From there he managed to avoid arrest by traveling on the Nile River to Aswan in southern Egypt and eventually made it to Cairo.

He worked odd jobs living with Sudanese friends, but when they discovered that he was a Christian, they ordered him to leave, he said. In December 2016, Osman was baptized in the Episcopal Church in Egypt.

More here-

https://christiannews.net/2019/01/21/facing-torture-death-in-sudan-convert-flees-to-egypt-only-to-receive-more-death-threats/

Coptic Christians plan protests demanding justice as targeted killings continue in Egypt

From Egypt-

Coptic Christians will be staging protests in multiple cities at the end of the month to bring attention to the ongoing persecution their communities suffer in Egypt.

The Australian Coptic Movement Association said on Facebook Friday that protests on Dec. 30 are scheduled in at least three cities: Sydney, Melbourne, and Darwin.

The Coptic community has faced several tragedies in 2018. It's still reeling from the murder of father and son Emad and David Kamal Sadiq who were killed on Dec. 12 by a police officer who had been tasked with guarding a Christian church.

Al-Monitor reported on Thursday that Sgt. Rabie Mostafa Khalifa has officially been charged with premeditated murder in the shooting deaths of the believers after he opened fire while guarding Nahdet al-Qadasa Church in the Minya governorate.

More here-

https://www.christianpost.com/world/coptic-christians-plan-protests-demanding-justice-as-targeted-killings-continue-in-egypt.html

Angry Coptic Christians mourn Egypt bus attack victims

From Egypt-

Angry Coptic Christians on Saturday buried relatives shot dead on a bus carrying pilgrims south of the Egyptian capital, the second such jihadist attack on the country's main religious minority in as many years.

The Islamic State (IS) group said it was behind Friday's attack which killed seven Christians returning from a visit to the desert cemetery of Saint Samuel that was also targeted in 2017.

A security source said another seven people were wounded in the shootings near the city of Minya.
Hundreds of angry Copts gathered in and around Minya's Prince Tadros church from dawn for the funeral of six victims, under heavy guard by masked security personnel.

The seventh victim, an Anglican, was buried Friday evening in a village outside Minya.

More here-

https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/middle-east/187796-181103-angry-coptic-christians-mourn-egypt-bus-attack-victims

Archbishop of Canterbury presents the Hubert Walter award to Egypt's Bishop Mouneer Anis

From English Ahram-

The Bishop of Egypt, Mouneer Anis, has received an official award from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, for his “invaluable contribution to the work of peace and reconciliation."

The Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Inter-Faith Cooperation was presented to Bishop Mouneer on Wednesday 21 February during a meeting of the Anglican Inter-Faith Commission in Cairo.

He was handed the award by Dr. Josiah Idowu-Fearon, the Secretary-General of the Anglican Communion, on behalf of Justin Welby at Cairo Cathedral.

The citation for Bishop Mouneer’s award recognises his work with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed El-Tayyeb.

It reads that Bishop Mouneer “has made a unique contribution and example through his ability to establish deep relationships; this is largely because of his openness, creativity and ambition to move people towards reconciliation. At times, this inevitably makes him a counter-cultural voice within his setting."

More here-

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/5/1188/291757/Arts--Culture/City-Lights/Archbishop-of-Canterbury-presents-the-Hubert-Walte.aspx

Statement by His Grace Bishop Angaelos regarding the brutal murder of Coptic Orthodox priest Fr Samaan in Cairo

From Coptic Center-

Another day in Egypt with another Coptic Christian murdered; this time a priest from Beni Suef, Upper Egypt, who was in Cairo collecting humanitarian aid for vulnerable members of his parish. Fr Samaan was paying a pastoral visit to a family in Cairo and returned to the church where he was earlier to collect his mobile phone. On the way, he was attacked by a knife-wielding assailant who chased him, stabbed him repeatedly, and then brutally killed him.

This incident makes us once again ask so many questions. Why should a priest not be able to walk safely down a street, especially a suburban street in Cairo? Why should he be chased by a man brandishing a deadly weapon and have no one run to his aid; in actual fact, everyone was running away. Why, when he lay drenched in his own blood did the ambulance service not arrive for over an hour, and then not treat him? Why, when the police finally arrived, and he lay dead, was a crime scene not secured and forensic evidence not collected to enable a robust and serious investigation? Why is his assailant immediately deemed mentally incapable without professional diagnosis, and why, if he is incapable, and a known violent criminal, is he left in the community with weapons within his reach? 


More here-

http://copticcentre.blogspot.com/2017/10/statement-by-his-grace-bishop-angaelos.html

Coptic priest killed in street attack in Cairo

From Catholic Herald-

Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church says a priest has been killed in a knife attack in a poor Cairo district, the latest deadly assault on members of the country’s Christian minority.

The church says the attack took place on Thursday. The priest was identified in the media as Fr Samaan Shehata.

Security officials say the attacker struck the priest’s head with a cleaver and fled the scene, but was later arrested. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief the media.

The motive was not immediately known.

Bishop Angaelos, Britain’s Coptic Orthodox bishop, said Fr Shehata, a priest from the Upper Egypt region, had been visiting his family in Cairo and collecting aid for the needy in his parish. He had left his mobile phone at a church and was walking back to reclaim it.

More here-

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2017/10/13/coptic-priest-killed-in-street-attack-in-cairo/

Egypt bus attack victims refused to renounce Christian faith before being shot, bishop confirms

From Christian Today-

Victims of ISIS' deadly attack on a bus in Egypt were asked to renounce their Christian faith and when they refused they were shot dead, a senior Coptic bishop has confirmed.

Girls as young as two were among the 29 killed as militants targeted pilgrims en route to a monastery near the town of Menya in southern Egypt.

Bishop Makarios, the top Coptic Orthodox cleric in Minya, said the assailants ordered victims off the bus and told them their lives would be spared if they converted to Islam.

'They chose death,' said Makarios, according to the Associated Press.

'We take pride to die while holding on to our faith,' he said in a television interview, the agency reported.

More here-

https://www.christiantoday.com/article/egypt-bus-attack-victims-refused-to-renounce-christian-faith-before-being-shot-bishop-confirms/109614.htm

Coptic Christians: Islamic State’s ‘Favorite Prey’

From The New York Times-

“At this rate Copts will be extinct in 100 years. They will die, leave, convert or get killed,” a friend wrote on Facebook as news broke of the latest bloody attack on Egypt’s Coptic Christians. Less than two months ago, while attending church in Cairo on Palm Sunday, my friend told me she’d mused to herself that it was a blessing her daughter wasn’t with her: If there was a bombing, at least her child would survive. Forty-five Copts were murdered that day by the Islamic State in churches in Alexandria and Tanta. Such are the thoughts of Coptic parents in Egypt these days.

The terrorists chose today’s target well. The Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, which I visited a decade ago, is very hard to reach. One hundred and ten miles on the Cairo Luxor desert road, you make a right-hand turn and for the next 17 miles drive on an unpaved road. The single lane forces cars to drive slowly, and, as the only route leading to the monastery, the victims were guaranteed to be Copts. Friday is a day off in Egypt, and church groups regularly take trips there. Outside of a few policemen stationed out front, there is little security presence.

More here-

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/26/opinion/coptic-christians-islamic-states-favorite-prey.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0

Franklin Graham calls persecution of Christians ‘genocide’

From RNS-

Also speaking at the opening of the summit: Metropolitan Tikhon, primate of the Orthodox Church in America, and the Rev. Mouneer Hanna Anis, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Egypt, who stressed that Christians have shown love to the killers of their relatives.

“The forgiveness that has been expressed by families of martyrs is the most powerful witness in the face of terrorism,” he said.

Forgiveness and Christ’s call to love one’s enemies were invoked during the evening far more than Islamic militants were blamed for the sufferings of Christians. But Graham, at one point in his 25-minute speech, presented Islamists as threats to Christians globally.

He said the Islamic State fighters who beheaded Coptic Christians on a Libyan beach in 2015 had then promised to conquer Rome.

More here-

http://religionnews.com/2017/05/10/franklin-graham-calls-persecution-of-christians-genocide/

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

Egypt's Catholic, Evangelical churches cancel Easter celebrations over Sunday church bombings

From Ahram-

Egypt's Catholic and Evangelical churches have decided to cancel Easter celebrations on Saturday night after the two deadly suicide bombings that hit Mar Girgis Cathedral in Tanta and St Mark's Cathedral in Alexandria on Palm Sunday.

Father Andrea Zaki, the head of the Evangelical community in Egypt, said Easter celebrations will be cancelled and masses will be limited to prayer services in mourning of the victims of the attacks.

The secretary of Egypt's Coptic Catholic Church Emmanuel Ayad said on Wednesday that the Catholic Church has also decided to cancel Easter celebrations in solidarity with sister churches and the families of those killed in the attacks.

On Tuesday, the secretary of the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church Bishop Rafael announced the cancelation of Easter celebrations and the limiting of Saturday night masses to prayers, with a reception of mourners on Sunday.

More here-

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/262845/Egypt/Politics-/Egypts-Catholic,-Anglican-churches-cancel-Easter-c.aspx

Who are Egypt's Coptic Christians, and why do extremists target them?

From American Magazine-

They trace their founding to the voyage to Alexandria of St. Mark, the apostle of Jesus and New Testament author. Just a decade or two after the original Easter, which Christians celebrate around the world, tradition states that Mark founded their church, one of the earliest in the Middle East and the first in Africa. It was to become a pillar of early Christendom.

Some two thousand years later, Egypt's Coptic Christians have become the preferred target of the Islamic State group, an apocalyptic cult seeking religious war.

Inside the Arab world's most populous country, IS seeks to sow discord, undermine President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and split the country. It's a strategy the group has used before in Iraq, undermining trust in the government and inciting Shiites against Sunnis to provoke a backlash. That strategy looks unlikely to work in Egypt, where Sunnis vastly outnumber the Coptic minority, who make up some 10 percent of the population of 92 million and who are overwhelmingly dedicated supporters of el-Sissi. But it does whittle away at the Christians' sense of security.

More here-

https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2017/04/11/who-are-egypts-coptic-christians-and-why-do-extremists-target-them

Egypt declares state of emergency after bombings of Coptic churches

From Episcopal Cafe-

Yesterday, two Coptic churches in Egypt where hit by suicide bombers. The first blast took place at St. George’s in Tanta, a Nile delta city, at around 9:30 in the morning. Several hours later, another bomb went off at the gates of St. Mark’s Cathedral in Alexandria. Both bombings have now been found to be suicide bombings. In Tanta, the bomber made it into the church and detonated his bombs in the front pews. 27 people are reported dead there, with 71 injured at least. However, police in Alexandria were able to intercept the suicide bomber outside the cathedral, preventing him from entering. He detonated his bombs there, killing the two officers who stopped him, along with 11 others, and leaving 21 more people injured, according to the Health Ministry. Pope Tawadros II was at the Cathedral, but he was not injured in the explosion. Daesh/ISIL immediately claimed responsibility for both attacks. “Crusaders and their apostate allies should know the bill between us and them is very big and they will pay it with rivers of blood from their children, god willing. Wait for us, for we will wait for you,” the jihadist group said in a statement quoted by Reuters news agency.

More here

http://www.episcopalcafe.com/egypt-declares-state-of-emergency-after-bombings-of-coptic-churches/

Who are Egypt's Coptic Christians?

From CNN-

An ISIS-claimed attack on one of the holiest days in the Christian faith is drawing the world's attention to Egypt's Coptic community, a religious minority long targeted for violence.

The Palm Sunday bombings killed 43 people and injured dozens more at two Coptic Christian churches in Alexandria and Tanta, the latest in a yearslong spike of violence against the community.
In a statement claiming responsibility for the bombings, ISIS warned of more attacks. Egyptian authorities responded by declaring a three-month state of emergency. But Coptics, who have long been targeted for violence, are not optimistic the situation will change.

Here's what you need to know about Egypt's native Christians, who trace their origins back to ancient times.


More here-


http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/09/middleeast/egypt-coptic-christians/

Two Explosions Kill at Least 31 at Egyptian Coptic Churches on Palm Sunday

From The New York Times-

Two explosions at Coptic churches in Egypt on Palm Sunday left at least 31 people dead and injured dozens of others as a day of worship in the besieged Christian community turned to destruction and carnage.

The first blast ripped through St. George’s Church in northern Egypt in the Nile Delta city of Tanta, 50 miles north of Cairo, during a Mass about 9:30 a.m., according to an official from the Health Ministry.

The deputy minister of health put the preliminary death toll at 25.

Hours later, a suicide bomber set off an explosion outside the main Coptic church in Alexandria, St. Mark’s Cathedral, killing at least six — including three police officers — and injuring 21 others, the Health Ministry said.

More here-

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/09/world/middleeast/explosion-egypt-coptic-christian-church.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share&_r=0

Number of Coptic families fleeing North Sinai for Ismailia jumps to 143

From Egypt-

The number of Egyptian Copts who have fled North Sinai to Ismailia after a spate of killings of Christians by militants there has risen to 143 families, a spokesperson for the Coptic Orthodox Church announced on Tuesday.

In an official statement, the Church said the families included 546 members, adding that Ismailia’s Anglican Church was providing support and housing for 54 families, or 146 individuals.

The Church added that the Anglican Church was meeting the daily needs of the 89 other families, which the Egyptian government has taken responsibility for housing in the governorate.

The number announced by the Church is the most recent official estimate of the families that have fled to Ismailia, and does not include other families who were provided shelter by the government in four other governorates, the statement read.

More here-

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/259079/Egypt/Politics-/Number-of-Coptic-families-fleeing-North-Sinai-for-.aspx

Egypt is in mourning as church bombing victims are laid to rest

From Egypt-


Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El Sisi has declared three days of mourning in Egypt following Sunday’s bombing of Cairo’s main Coptic cathedral, in the Abbasiyah district, which killed more than 30 people and injured more than 50.

Funerals for the victims, who included women and children, were held on Monday.

The funeral procession was led by Egypt’s Coptic Pope Tawadros II, who cut short a papal visit to Greece and returned to Cairo before heading directly to site of the bombing, Egypt’s Al Ahram newspaper reported,

An improvised explosive device (IED) with 12kg of TNT caused the explosion, according to an Egyptian security official’s statement to state media.

The IED ripped through the church as hundreds of Copts, who make up 10% of Egypt’s population of over 80 million, were worshiping. Women and children were among the victims.

More here-

http://citizen.co.za/news/news-africa/1372443/egypt-mourning-church-bombing-victims-laid-rest/

Are Anglicans Really Protestants? Complex Row Between Christians In Egypt Reignites Old Argument

From Christian Today-

An organisation of evangelical Protestant churches in Egypt has defended its behaviour towards Anglicans and has denied it is trying to appropriate their churches.

The Anglicans fear a recent court decision could see them subsumed into the Central Office of Protestant Churches (COPC) in Egypt and lose their identity as a separate legal entity.

Archbishop of the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East, Mouneer Anis, told ACNS: "They further claimed that they can take possession of all of the Episcopal/Anglican Church properties as their own. They are now forcing us to take their approval before we notarise any document in the government." He also complained that he needed to  get approval from COPC to obtain or renew visas for Anglican church workers. "This is causing us a great deal of trouble."

COPC spoke out after a judge ruled that the Anglican Church in Egypt is in effect part of their organisation, and Archbishop Mouneer issued a letter criticising the decision.

More here-

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/are.anglicans.really.protestants.complex.row.between.christians.in.egypt.reignites.old.argument/99523.htm