Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Catholic News

Home

Home
Catholic
Religion News
Egypt suffers terrorism, not religious conflict, priest says

Egypt suffers terrorism, not religious conflict, priest says

Last updated on: October 30, 2013 at 6:01 am by CNA Daily News

Egypt suffers terrorism, not religious conflict, priest says 2013-10-30T06:01:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Alexandria, Egypt, Oct 30, 2013 / 12:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A priest of the Coptic Patriarchate of Alexandria has rejected claims that attacks on Egyptian Christians are a religious conflict, noting that terrorists in the country are attacking many groups.

“The idea that this involves a conflict between Muslims and Christians simply isn’t borne out by reality. Not only Christians are being attacked, but state institutions as well,” Fr. Hani Bakhoum Kiroulos, secretary of the patriarchate, said Oct. 25.

While police are stationed at many churches, terrorists “strike completely unexpectedly.”

Fr. Kiroulos told Aid to the Church in Need, “this is a problem that affects all Egyptians equally, not only the Christians.”

“Egypt is conducting a war on terrorism.”

Fr. Kiroulos’ comments come after an Oct. 20 attack on a Coptic wedding in Cairo when unidentified gunmen killed a Christian family of four and wounded several others, both Christian and Muslim.

That was the latest in a series of attacks since a military coup July 3. In August, some 80 churches were attacked, and both Muslims and Christians were killed.

The priest said that such attackers “want to provoke Christians into calling for Western intervention, from the U.S. or European countries.”

He said this would “internationalize” the conflict and “disrupt national unity.”

“The extremists’ goal is also to embroil the Christians in a civil war. But this tactic won’t work – Christians have shown that they are genuine Egyptians.”

Fr. Kiroulos said extremist elements are trying to block the majority of Egyptians, who desire a democratic state that guarantees civil liberties and religious freedom.

In his view, Egypt needs a new constitution, and elections for president and parliament. The terrorist elements destabilizing the country “must be eliminated.”

He also called for “genuine reconciliation between all groups in Egypt.”

“Hence, the Muslim Brotherhood must put the interests of Egypt before its own. This is the only way will we be able to build a genuinely democratic state.”

Christians tended to oppose to the rule of former president Mohammed Morsi, who was elected with backing from the Muslim Brotherhood in June 2012. The Egyptian military removed Morsi from power in a July coup.

The Muslim Brotherhood has voiced sympathy for the victims of the wedding shooting, though Fr. Kiroulos said he was not able to judge the group’s sincerity.

“I can say that during the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood many terrorists entered the country and we are now suffering from the consequences of their policies.”

Fr. Kiroulos reported that the Sinai region is heavily infiltrated by terrorists, who are active throughout Egypt.

The Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need’s new report on Christian persecution, “Persecuted and Forgotten?”, said that a rise in anti-Christian violence and intolerance was expected given the political unrest in Egypt.

However, the scale of attacks has exceeded even the “bleakest predictions.”

Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt’s 90 million people. An estimated 200,000 Christians have left the country since February 2011.

Middle East - Africa

Previous Post

October 29, 2013

Texas pro-life law takes effect after some portions struck down

Next Post

October 30, 2013 Zambian bishops preparing to launch Catholic television station

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which Gospel was written by a doctor?

Select your answer to see how you score.

John Luke Mark Matthew