Christian Family Jailed and Coptic Service Center Destroyed by Egypt's Islamists

By Michael Terheyden
1/23/2013
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

We need to start seeing ourselves as a family, a broken family to be sure, but a family nonetheless. And not just any family: We are members of the Body of Christ, and we are truly universal

Freedom of religion seems a lost hope for many in Egypt: A mother and her children have been sentenced to jail for converting to Christianity; Muslims continue to destroy Coptic property; and Coptic Christians flee their homeland.

Facebook Delicous MySpace

Twitter Stumble Digg

More Destinations

KNOXVILLE, TN (Catholic Online) - As Islamists secure power in Egypt, freedom of religion seems a lost hope for many. Christians are being jailed, their property destroyed, and Coptic Christians are fleeing their homeland.

According to a report published on Egypt For Christ, last week a widowed mother, Nadia Mohamed Ali, and her seven children were sentenced to 15 years in prison by an Egyptian court in the city of Beni Suef, located about 75 miles south of Cairo. The reason for the sentence was because Nadia and her children converted to Christianity.

Nadia was born into a Christian family, but when she married her Muslim husband 23 years ago, the law required that she convert to Islam. After he died, she converted back to Christianity with her children. This was not unusual when former President Mubarak was in power.

It is believed that this harsh sentence reflects a new mood in Egypt as a result of the constitution Morsi finalized in late December. Under the new constitution, sharia law has been given much greater weight. Consequently, the Coptic community is fearful that this is a sign of a new wave of persecution. They may be right.

Based on a report published by the Assyrian International News Agency, in the Fayoum province about 80 miles south west of Cairo, Islamists destroyed the social services building belonging to the Coptic Church. The Church had all the required permits, as well as agreements with the village mayor and elders.

But Muslims accused the Copts of building a church, and mosques throughout the area called for their members to destroy it. Hundreds of Muslims carrying hammers and pipes answered the call. They destroyed the social services building to shouts of "god is great." The authorities did not arrive until after the building was destroyed, and no one has been arrested. Now, local Copts are fearful to go out of their homes.

President Mohammed Morsi promised to respect Christians' rights, and referred to Egypt as "one homeland for all." But that has not been the reality for the Coptic Christian community living in Egypt.

Father Mena Adel says that the mood has changed in Egypt since the Muslim Brotherhood won so many seats in the parliamentary and presidential elections, and many Copts are afraid. Father Mena serves at Saints Church in Alexandria, which was bombed in 2010 as people were filing out of church after the New Year's Eve Mass. Twenty-three people died that night and about 80 people were wounded.

Tens of thousands of Copts have fled Egypt as Islamists began to flex their muscles after former president Mubarak was forced to step down in February of 2011. Many have gone to countries like Canada and Australia. Based on some estimates, approximately 40,000 have come to the United States. It would be a tragic affair if this turned into a full fledged exodus.

Sami, a Coptic Christian who drives a cab in Cairo, said, "We've been here forever. We're true Egyptians. We belong here." Sami is right, and history bears him out. By the time Muslims invaded Egypt in the seventh century, most Egyptians were Christians. Tradition has it that the apostle Saint Mark formed a church in Alexandria, Egypt shortly after the ascension of Jesus. It is said that Christianity spread from Alexandria throughout Egypt within half a century. After the Muslim invasion, all native Egyptians were called Copts.

Based on their Egyptian heritage, the modern-day Christian Copts are a living link to a past that stretches back to approximately 3100 B.C. and the pharaohs. They are also one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, a community which has always existed at the geographic center of our faith. Today, they make up about 10 percent of the population in modern Egypt, and they are the largest religious minority in the Middle East. Thus, the presence of the Coptic Christian community in Egypt is important for all of us.

For this reason and humanitarian reasons, many people have called upon the secular nations of the West to help the Copts, but this help has not materialized. Even the United States, with its close involvement and billion dollar payments to Egypt, has not provided help. But this is not surprising.

You may recall that European leaders refused to recognize their Christian heritage in the failed constitution intended to establish the European Union and in the Treaty of Lisbon which was ratified in 2009 in lieu of a constitution. In the United States, open persecution against Christians has begun. Under President Obama's leadership, his party has attempted to remove mention of God from its official platform; efforts have been ...

1 | 2 Next Page

Rate This Article

Was this helpful to you? Very Helpful Somewhat Helpful Not Helpful at All

Would you be interested in more articles like this? Yes, I am Interested No, I am not Interested

Rate Article

1 - 10 of 11 Comments

Celine
3 months ago
What can I do to help?? God Bless & protect those persecuted Christians all over the world.
Joachim
3 months ago
It is Devil plan To Islamize the whole world by starting killing our fellow Christians in Arab World,Countries like Us,and other european Countries must see this threat ,Today coptic in Egypt but Tommorrow may be Us,and other Countries These guys they wont stop killing is the directive from their Prpphet
Cn
4 months ago
Pray that the Muslim leaders shall realise that they are destroying their own religion by persecuting other religion blindly.
This includes some politicians in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, who systematically persecuting the non-Muslims natives and forcefully converting them into Islam.
Art arlo
4 months ago
So this is what Obama meant when he said the Arab Spring. Now today he will say at the inauguration..SO HELP ME GOD that is hard for me to believe that when he knows that Christians are being persecuted in Egypt for believing in Jesus.
Tommy
4 months ago
President Mohammed Morsi promised to respect Christians' rights, and referred to Egypt as "one homeland for all."

Lets face it president Morsi is a liar, doing what the best example for mankind to follow pioneered ....Lying, mass murder,rape, thievery,debauchery, and deceit so don't start crying that he is not playing the game according to Queensbury rules
The truth is out there -- find it before it is too late
.........................................................................................................................................
Volume 5, Book 59, Number 369 :
Narrated by Jabir bin 'Abdullah

Allah's Apostle said, "Who is willing to kill Ka'b bin Al-Ashraf who has hurt Allah and His Apostle?" Thereupon Muhammad bin Maslama got up saying, "O Allah's Apostle! Would you like that I kill him?" The Prophet said, "Yes," Muhammad bin Maslama said, "Then allow me to say a (false) thing (i.e. to deceive Kab). "The Prophet said, "You may say it."
..................................................................................................................................................
lies and murder by the messenger of their god

Throughout the world Christians and other non muslims are being murdered to the tune of alla akhbar. (praise to satan) some religions are inspired by God others are the work of the devil.
There can be no equality under islam only misery for unbelievers as referenced by the koran,sira and sunna
Louis Barta
4 months ago
Thank you for publishing this informative yet distressing article, yet I strongly urge Catholic Online to further publicize the plight of North Korean Christians who are suffering even more horrid persecution under the insanely cruel hell on earth communist regime in their country.
James
4 months ago

REV 21:4
"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away"

Remember our greater days have not yet passed.
John Wolfe
4 months ago
Remember that when they persecute Christians, they are persecuting Christ himself.
rafaelmarie
4 months ago
Aah, Obama's arab spring???

A winter time for Coptic Catholics!

A man of war against the infants can never hope to promulgate peace.
Vinod Sailes
4 months ago
Such persecution of Christians might cause pain and anguish but being a Christian it is worth the persecution and it would only be proper if such persecution is accepted as a wee bit of penance for attaining eternal life. Moreover, as we ourselves cannot foresee the fate that each one of the free Christians might have to endure in the coming years or centuries, we only need to treat these instances of persecution as a ray of hope for the early coming of Jesus Christ.

I would even say rather than slamming such acts by wayward fanatics, we ought to rejoice that the prophesy of Jesus Christ who planted that one sapling by name ‘Christianity’ over 2000 years ago are coming true. And we including the other faithful and brethren who are made victims of fanatics under the guise of Islam ought to welcome these developments and reiterate our resolve to stand by the Savior even in times of adversities and persecutions. We are truly blessed that Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit touched our hearts through our forefathers that we were blessed to become followers of Jesus Christ.

It is truly unfortunate that millions did not receive that grace of being numbered among the flocks as redeemed by Jesus Christ and called to glorify the name of Jesus Christ so that we may one day, in the company of all other Christians live to be gifted the heavenly reward with His “Come ye, blessed of my Father possess ye the kingdom prepared for you”. May the Savior and Lord bless all and may the Holy Spirit grant us all the strength to bear up with the cruelties inflicted by sinners and infidels in the name of Satan. Have all a nice day .. Amen.

Prev12 Next

Comments submitted must be civil, remain on-topic and not violate any laws including copyright. We reserve the right to delete any comments which are abusive, inappropriate or not constructive to the discussion.

Though we invite robust discussion, we reserve the right to not publish any comment which denigrates the human person, undermines marriage and the family, or advocates for positions which openly oppose the teaching of the Catholic Church.

This is a supervised forum and the Editors of Catholic Online retain the right to direct it.

We also reserve the right to block any commenter for repeated violations. Your email address is required to post, but it will not be published on the site.

We ask that you NOT post your comment more than once. Catholic Online is growing and our ability to review all comments sometimes results in a delay in their publication.

Name *

Email *

Comment *

Send me important information from Catholic Online and it's partners. See Sample

Post Comment