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...Then the name of President Obama appears, his middle name, Hussein, emphasized with capital letters. We are clearly meant to recall this Muslim name as Obama himself appears on the screen. . . he’s shown in apparent distress, mourning the atrocities committed in the name of Jesus during the Crusades. . . “A Message Signed with Blood to the Nation of the Cross”: That’s the title of the film in English.

ICC Note:One of the women who was killed during last week’s brutal terrorist attack against a church in Helwan died protecting her two daughters, aged 11 and 7. According to her daughters, their mother pushed her children to the ground and sheltered them from the bullets of one of the terrorists. The attack on the church occurred a little over a week before the Coptic Orthodox Christmas, which will take place on January 7th. Tensions are high as Christians throughout Egypt prepare for celebrations with the knowledge that terrorists will likely continue to target their churches during this time. 1/01/18...

As more and more details emerge concerning Friday’s Ramadan attack on a busload of Christians on pilgrimage, the more it becomes evident that these 29 martyrs died solely because they were Christians. Survivors of the attack said that the ten masked Islamic State militants did not merely open fire on the bus full of Christian pilgrims on their way to the Monastery of Saint Samuel the Confesor, but that the victims were made to descend from the bus and asked one by one whether they were Christians before being shot by the assailants. According to one of the chaplains of...

Ten masked gunmen, who used machine guns, opened fire at two buses carrying Egyptian Coptic Christians to a monastery south of Cairo on Friday, killing 26 including children and injuring 26 others, Al Arabiya News Channel reported. The Christian group was travelling in two buses and a truck through the province, which is home to a sizeable Christian minority, the governor of Egypt’s Minya province, Essam al-Bedaiwy, said. The health ministry said there were between eight and 10 attackers dressed in military uniforms, according to witnesses. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which came on the eve of...

A little known fact: when Muslims persecute religious minorities in their midst, they often justify it by projecting the worst aspects of Islam onto the “infidels.” A well-known phenomenon, “projection” is defined as “the attribution of one’s own ideas, feelings, or attitudes to other people.” One academic article states, “Projection allows the killer to project his (unacceptable) desire to kill (torture, rape, steal, dominate, etc.) onto some target group or person. This demonizes his target, making it even more acceptable to kill.”Accordingly, anyone who listens to the last video made by ISIS inciting violence against Egypt’s Copts would think the...

"I am proud of my father--not just for my own sake, but because he has honored the whole Church. He did not deny his faith. That is something wonderful. We pray for the perpetrators, that they may be converted." CAIRO—The gruesome images of the 21 Christians who were beheaded in last February by Islamic State terrorists have left a deep imprint on the memory of Christian Egyptians. Now a new church dedicated to the martyrs—who are formally recognized as such by Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church—will honor their memory in a tangible fashion: this week—after a long delay—work began on laying...

An Egyptian court has sentenced 71 people to life in prison for their role in the August 2013 burning of a Christian church in the Giza province village of Kafr Hakim, state news reports. The Virgin Mary Church was torched and looted by a mob, some of whom chanted against Coptic Christians and called for Egypt to become an "Islamic state," one of at least 42 churches and many more businesses and homes targeted that August, the advocacy group Human Rights Watch reports. Others attacked included St. George Church in Sohag, a city south of Cairo on the Nile River,...

A New Jersey police officer dealt with the complaints of an animal rights activist in a manner that can only be described as a sad sign of the times: “Obama just decimated the freakin’ Constitution, so I don’t give a damn." The activist, Steve Wronko had gone to the Helmetta Police Department with a list of complaints regarding the Helmetta Regional Animal Shelter and to voice his complaints about perceived violations of his Constitutional rights. Via Photography Is Not A Crime: The video was posted Monday by activists trying to bring changes to the Helmetta Regional Animal Shelter in New...

Vatican City, Apr 22, 2014 / 12:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- It was made known Thursday that Monsignor Yoannis Lahzi Gaid, a priest of the Coptic Patriarchate of Alexandria, has been made second personal secretary to Pope Francis. The position is among the Pope’s closest collaborators, and this marks the first time that an Eastern Catholic priest has been appointed to the position. The vacancy filled by Msgr. Lahzi Gaid March 17 was created when Msgr. Alfred Xuereb was transferred from his position as Pope Francis’ personal secretary to being prelate secretary general of the Secretariat for the Economy. Msgr....

Dr. Kamil Sedik, secretary of the Congregational Council in Alexandria, has condemned repeated attacks by Islamist groups against Coptic Christians in Egypt, saying that authorities are permitting the violence by not providing adequate security for vulnerable Copts."Copts are subjected to violence by criminals, who were released from prison by deposed President Morsi, because of their [Copts] ideological affiliation," Sedik told Mideast Christian News. Moreover, Sedik accused government officials of failing to cope with criminal attacks against Copts. "The government does not provide security for Copts, but it tolerates prisoners who are under investigation," he said in reference to the meeting...

Days ago, al-Qaeda’s Egyptian leader, Ayman Zawahiri, portrayed the overthrow of Muhammad Morsi and the Brotherhood as a “Crusader” campaign led by Coptic Pope Tawadros II who, according to Zawahiri and other terrorists, is trying to create a Coptic state in Egypt. Since then, not only are Egypt’s Christians and churches now being attacked in ways unprecedented in the modern era, but new reports indicate that al-Qaeda’s black flag has been raised on some of them, specifically St. George Church in Sohag. Considering that it was al-Qaeda linked terrorists who initiated one of the bloodiest church attacks in recent history,...

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Two popes prayed together Friday at the Vatican, one Catholic and one Orthodox, in a sign of improving ties following the election of new leaders for both churches. Pope Francis welcomed the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt, Pope Tawadros II, in the first such meeting at the Vatican in 40 years, saying his visit "strengthens the bonds of friendship and brotherhood" between the two churches. The Coptic and Catholic churches split in the fifth century over theocratic differences. Christians comprise about 10 percent of Egypt's population. The Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt counts...

Vatican City, May 10, 2013 / 07:06 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt met with Pope Francis at the Vatican and spoke about the urgent need for unity among Christians in the Middle East. “We must prepare our people for this very real and needed unity that we know and live, we must work quickly and seriously,” said Pope Tawadros II in May 10 remarks provided to CNA by his office. His visit to the Vatican is significant because he leades Egypt’s largest Christian Church with ten million members, as well as historic,...

An election official (R) watches as an elderly man votes at a polling station in Old Cairo. Credit: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images News/Getty Images Rome, Italy, Dec 2, 2011 / 08:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Coptic Catholic Patriarch Antonios Naguib remains hopeful for his country's future, even as Egypt's Islamic political parties seem poised to make the largest gains in parliamentary elections this week.“We have a great hope that a better situation will come out,” Cardinal Patriarch Naguib told CNA Dec. 1, after the Nov. 28-29 vote for lower house representatives in nine of Egypt's 27 provinces.“There are many groups that...

I am looking at a reproduction of an old engraving of Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulcher. It is in Bat Ye'or's book "The Dhimmi," which collects primary documents from history to chronicle the impact of Islamic law on non-Muslims through the centuries. What is notable about the image, which is based on an 1856 photograph, is that the church, said to be at the site of Jesus Christ's crucifixion and burial, has no cross and no belfry. Stripped of its Christian symbols, the church stood in compliance with the Islamic law and traditions of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire, which...

Arab Islamic apartheid, discrimination, oppression, persecution against Christians Vs the only free State [in the region]: Israel---Christine M. Flowers: The very real persecution of Christians in the Arab worldSeptember 30, 2011IF THE "Arab Spring" bathed the Middle East in some much-needed sunlight, there's at least one group that sees ominous clouds on the not-so-distant horizon. That would be the region's embattled and apprehensive Christians, who've lived a kind of double life for many decades.While nominally citizens of the countries they inhabit, most non-Muslims, the majority of whom are Christian, are treated as second-class members of society because so many governments...

The church was named after Saint Samaan the Tanner whom the Lord used in the miracle of moving the Mokkatam mountain on Nov. 27, 979 A.D from the boundaries of the Elephant Lake (now known as the New Helmeia) to its present location; during the time of the 62nd Patriarch, Bishop Abram Ibn Zaraa the Syrian in the reign of Al Muiz Ledin Illah the Fatimid , the first ruler of the Fatimid dynasty in Egypt. Ministry in this church started by Divine Providence in April 1974 with a small children’s meeting, then a general women and men’s meeting...

One of our readers sent in the following video which shows the "Coptic Orthodox English Liturgy... celebrated by Fr. Mauritius Anba Bishoy at the Heavenly Cathedral Sharm El-sheikh, Egypt." The liturgy was filmed for and by Aghaby Christian TV on September 2009 -- and hence the microphones you will note throughout. Here is the first video of ten that are available. It is a good (and perhaps rare) opportunity to see these particular liturgical rites from that part of the world and in English, and will likely be of interest to those who are interested in comparative liturgics. Beneath the...

At least six Coptic Christians and a security official have been killed in a drive-by shooting outside a church in southern Egypt, officials say.The shooting came as worshippers left the church in Naj Hammadi after a midnight mass on Coptic Christmas Eve. A car pulled up and gunfire was sprayed into the crowd. Officials say they suspect the attack is in revenge for the rape of a 12-year-old Muslim girl by a Christian man in the town in November. There were five days of riots in the town, with Christian properties torched and damaged, following the rape. Police said the...

(AINA) -- As a result of a rumor that a young Christian Copt hurled a stone towards a mosque, thousands of Muslims congregated and attacked Copts and their properties, leaving several injured and arrested. The incident, which took place on Wednesday, May 13, 2009,in the area of Saft El-Labn, Giza, resulted in the injury of 14 people from both sides. The police arrested 20 Copts, including 6 women, and 7 Muslims, and security imposed a curfew on the region. Among the Copts randomly rounded up by the police is 29-year-old Sabry Shaker, a physically handicapped man suffering from infantile paralysis....