Coptic Church Torched In Egypt
Christians in the southern Egyptian village of Naj al-Nassara looked on in horror as their Archangel Mikhail Coptic Church went up in flames, reports USA Today.
"We heard deafening sounds of explosions and crackling as the interior of the church gave way," said Salim Qamhi, a farmer in Naj al-Nassara. "The fire had eaten up everything — the wooden sanctuary, the icons, the pews and the books."
The blaze is among the high number of recent attacks in the country against Christians including the kidnapping of a 16-year-old girl and the killing of a Coptic nun.
Egypt's Coptic Pope Tawadros II told an Egyptian parliamentary committee that attacks against Christians have been happening at a rate of about one a month over the past three years.
"The incidents we heard about are very painful," he said. "I'm patient and enduring, but there have been incidents that warn of danger."
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has vowed to bring justice to those responsible for the attacks, but Egypt's Coptic Christian minority says the government is doing very little to protect them.
In a country of 90 million, close to 10 percent are Christians and they currently need the support of the government and the approval of the local Muslim community to build and gather together in a church.
Movement to gain approval is slow and in the meantime five Copts' houses have been torched.
"It seems the minister of Interior is just absent," said Meshil Nasef, a civil engineer from Minya, about the agency that oversees police in Egypt. "Our community needs security and peace to be restored."
