Posted on 07/10/2013 5:47:19 AM PDT by SJackson
Egypt: Morsi supporters open fire at Port Said church
Morsi supporters have been attacking Christians, blaming them for the ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood government. "Masked gunmen open fire at Port Said church," from MENA, July 9:
Masked gunmen opened fire at Mar Mina Church in Port Said's al-Manakh early Tuesday and managed to get away, according to state-run news agency MENA. No casualties were reported. Army and police squads arrived at the scene of the attack and efforts are being undertaken to identify the perpetrators.
This is the third such attack in 24 hours. Yesterday, unknown attackers assaulted Port Said's western seaport and the province's traffic police department.
A priest was killed Saturday in Masaeed in North Sinai.
The attacks come days after Egypt’s army toppled Islamist president Mohamed Morsy, yielding to mass protests demanding early elections. Morsy’s Islamist supporters have protested the army's decision.
Several Jiahdist leaders have been quoted in media reports as saying they vow to fight to defend Morsy’s legitimacy.
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Egypt’s Catholic Church praises military for pushing out Morsi
They know that Islamic Sharia rule would create innumerable hardships for Christians. But its proponents haven't gone away, either. "Egypt’s Catholic Church praises military for pushing out Morsi," from Coptic World, July 9:
Egypt’s Catholic leaders have welcomed the military overthrow of the country’s Islamist president and expressed confidence that Christians and Muslims can work together to build a “real democracy”.
Good luck with that.
Fr Hani Bakhoum Kiroulos, spokesman for the Catholic Coptic Church, said: “What has happened is absolutely not a military coup – our armed forces have responded to the desire of the people. “Millions of people took to the streets because they were unable to live under such a regime. They expressed their views and demanded freedom, and the military took action accordingly,” he told the American Catholic News Service.Fr Kiroulos said the preceding four days of protests, in which the military deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, had united Christians and Muslims.
“The Church isn’t just a collection of buildings, but a mass of people – and we are part of the Egyptian people and with the majority who’ve expressed their will,” Fr Kiroulos said.
“If the Egyptian people suffer, we will suffer too. But we hope [they] can now all join together, Christians and Muslims, in creating a new country and a better future,” he said.
The head of Egypt’s armed forces, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, announced the takeover after giving Morsi a 48-hour ultimatum to overcome a nationwide paralysis, worsened by mass protests in Cairo, Alexandria and other towns.
The move was welcomed as a “defining moment in the nation’s history” by Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II, who appeared beside the general during his televised address, along with the country’s grand imam, Sheik Ahmed el-Tayeb.
In a brief address, the Orthodox leader said he backed the “map for the future” drawn up by the new Supreme Council, adding that the armed forces reflected “the values of the people” and would be “honest advocates of the national interest”.
Fr Kiroulos said the presence of religious leaders alongside al-Sisi had been a “very important sign of Egyptian unity”.
“Our own Catholic Church has enjoyed very good unofficial relations with the army,” said the priest, who is secretary to Coptic Catholic Patriarch Ibrahim Isaac Sedrak. “By contrast, we received no help or support from President Morsi, only smiles. Although our relations started well, and he showed some concern for Christians, this never went beyond an official level.”
In an interview with Fides, the news agency of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, Patriarch Sedrak said Catholics had been celebrating that “the people of Egypt have peacefully regained their country”, adding that he was confident the country would not “repeat the mistakes made in the past” and would move toward “full restoration of democratic order”.
He said at least five million Egyptians would go on supporting the “radical beliefs” of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, adding that he also feared “feelings of revenge”.
“We must convince them there is a place for them in the country and no one rejects them – but they should behave as Egyptians, as fellow citizens with other Egyptians, and not aim at establishing a religious despotism,” the patriarch said.
“They should not be excluded from the political scene. But they must behave like a political party and not as a means of imposing a religious hegemony,” he added.
The 200,000-member Coptic Catholic Church has 14 dioceses in Egypt.
The Coptic Orthodox Church makes up at least a 10th of Egypt’s population of 81 million.
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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What better way for the Religion of Peace to celebrate the first day of their holy month of Ramadan than by shooting up a Catholic house of worship and shooting an infidel priest?
God Bless that Coptic Catholic priest.
Crossposting link to the live thread.
Live Thread: Egypt Revolution 2.1 The Ikwhan Strikes Back: Deadly “Day of Rejection”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3039526/posts
Ramadan begins, and the attacks and killings of Non-Muslims murdered by Muslims begin
Soetoro is sending out a small army to find the video that caused all this violence and is expecting to have the producer in custody very soon.
Perhaps we can now get an “acting stupidly” comment from our nosy president?
Yet in the Congressional hearings the three stooges claim they are ignorant of the video —or do not give credibility to what
Walid Shoebat has published concerning the Arabic telephone video that suggests those who attacked the ambassador were met by others who clearly (even with language barrior) suggested they were sent by Morsi.
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