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Spokesman for Catholic bishops in Egypt: "Obama does not appear to understand the situation."August 19, 2013 03:08 EST By Carl E. Olson A military helicopter flies over clouds of smoke in Cairo, Egypt, on August 16th. (CNS photo/Louafi Larbi, Reuters) Italian journalist Alessandra Nucci, a contributor to CWR (who recently wrote this piece about Christians in Syria), sent me a note this morning about the violent and horrible events in Egypt. She stated that the reporting of the Western press, in general, "from Egypt is marred by the same one-sided superficiality as denounced by the Christians in Syria." She included her...

To embrace the Muslim Brotherhood is to endorse a direct descendant of the Nazi Party. As the military (with the support of secular groups that don’t want an Islamist state) battles the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Americans argue over how to react, we should look back at history to understand why we should support the military as the lesser of two evils and hope for its success. Those who know the history of the Muslim Brotherhood and see the murderous attacks it has launched on the homes, businesses, schools, and churches of Coptic Christians, who represent about 10 percent...

At least 58 Christian churches, schools, institutions, homes and shops have been attacked, looted and torched over the last three days by the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of Mohamed Morsi, the former Egyptian president who was deposed on 3 July . On August 14 the army has tried to evict the sit-in of the Islamists in Rabaa El Nahda Square and Adaweya. In a wave of devastating violence, over 600 people were killed and thousands injured. But violent attacks were also carried out on Catholic, Orthodox, Evangelical churches as well as the homes and shops of Christians, as we have...

Saudi Arabia has emerged as the foremost supporter of Egypt's military rulers, explicitly backing the violent crackdown on Islamists and using its oil wealth and diplomatic muscle to help defy growing pressure from the West to end the bloodshed in search of a political solution. As Europeans and the United States considered cutting cash aid to Egypt, Saudi Arabia said Monday that it and its allies would make up any reduction — effectively neutralizing the West's main leverage over Cairo.

(CNSNews.com) – In a blunt warning to countries critical of the Egyptian military crackdown and considering suspending aid, longstanding U.S. ally Saudi Arabia suggested that the decisions they make now will have long-term consequences for their relationships in the Arab and Muslim world. Saudi Arabia has led the way in supporting the Egyptian military’s actions, first in removing the Muslim Brotherhood administration early last month and in its subsequent steps against supporters of the ousted Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi. Its warning came as policymakers in the U.S. and Europe mull the question of continuing financial assistance to Cairo following the...

(CNSNews.com) – In a blunt warning to countries critical of the Egyptian military crackdown and considering suspending aid, longstanding U.S. ally Saudi Arabia suggested that the decisions they make now will have long-term consequences for their relationships in the Arab and Muslim world. Saudi Arabia has led the way in supporting the Egyptian military’s actions, first in removing the Muslim Brotherhood administration early last month and in its subsequent steps against supporters of the ousted Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi. Its warning came as policymakers in the U.S. and Europe mull the question of continuing financial assistance to Cairo following the...

Since ex-president Morsy's ouster on July 3, attacks on Egyptian Christians by members of the Muslim Brotherhood have taken place in most governorates across Egypt. These attacks have escalated since security forces ended the pro-Morsy protests in central Cairo on August 14th. During their 6-weeks of protests, Muslim Brotherhood leaders explicitly threatened to harm the Copts should they be forced to end their protests, which they vowed to prolong until Morsy is restored to power. "Over the past weeks we have witnessed an increasing trend of anti-Christian rhetoric calling for 'the attack upon and eradication of Christians and churches' in...

Franciscan School looted and classrooms burned to the ground Nuns subjected to abuse as they were paraded through the streets Two Christians killed since government moved against protesters Dozens of churches, homes and businesses owned by Christians attacked A mob marched nuns through the battle-torn streets of Cairo ‘like prisoners of war’ in the latest outrage against Egypt’s Christian minority. Sister Manal, principal of a Franciscan school in suburban Cairo, watched for six hours as a mob looted the building, knocked the cross off the gate and replaced it with a black banner resembling the flag of Al Qaeda. The...

Minya churches canceled on Sunday the second mass, holding only a brief one. Meanwhile, prayers did not take place at other churches which were attacked. Priest Selwanes Lotfy of the Virgin Mary and Priest Ibram monastery in Degla, south of Minya, said, “We did not hold prayers in the monastery on Sunday for the first time in 1,600 years.”

Amid escalating violence against Egypt’s Copts, churches in Minya, located in upper Egypt, cancelled Sunday Mass for the first time in 1,600 years. Other churches in Minya also didn’t hold prayer services. "We did not hold prayers in the monastery on Sunday for the first time in 1,600 years,” Priest Selwanes Lotfy of the Virgin Mary and Priest Ibram Monastery in Degla, just south of Minya, told the al-Masry al-Youm daily. He said supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi destroyed the monastery, which includes three churches, one of which is an archaeological site. “One of the extremists wrote on the...

As church after church is put to the torch in Egypt by members of the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies, one of the things that is going up in flames is the reputation of President Obama. In the past 48 hours alone, some 57 Egyptian churches have been burned to the ground in the Nile valley. It will not be lost on the Egyptians that Mr. Obama has spent the crisis playing golf at Martha’s Vineyard. Scores of Christians are being consumed in this conflagration, some burned beyond recognition defending their churches, even as Mr. Obama’s much-despised envoy in Egypt,...

(The Evangelical Church of Malawi is left in ruins Saturday, Aug. 17, 2013, after it was ransacked, looted and burned ..............) CAIRO (AP) — After torching a Franciscan school, Islamists paraded three nuns on the streets like "prisoners of war" before a Muslim woman offered them refuge. Two other women working at the school were sexually harassed and abused as they fought their way through a mob. In the four days since security forces cleared two sit-in camps by supporters of Egypt's ousted president, Islamists have attacked dozens of Coptic churches along with homes and businesses owned by the...

A month ago, the Nour Party, the largest political group to emerge from the ultraconservative Salafist movement, was seen as Egypt’s kingmaker when it dramatically joined the military-led ousting of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi. They then proceeded to shape the interim government, vetoing a nominee for Prime Minister in the first week after Morsi was removed from power.

Egypt's army-backed authorities detained the Muslim Brotherhood's leader on Tuesday, signaling their determination to crush the group and silence protests against the ousting of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi. The arrest of Mohamed Badie, 70, the Brotherhood's general guide, followed the bloody suppression of rallies demanding the reinstatement of Egypt's first freely elected president, who was toppled by the military last month. Egypt is enduring the worst internal strife in its modern history, with about 900 people killed, including 100 police and soldiers, after security forces broke up protest camps by Mursi's supporters in the capital on August 14. A spokesman...

CAIRO - Egypt's embattled Muslim Brotherhood on Tuesday named a hardline new "general guide" hours after authorities arrested the movement's senior leader, sources said. The temporary appointment of Mahmoud Ezzat, a 69-year-old doctor, came amid a deepening crackdown on the Islamist movement of ousted President Mohammed Mor Ezzat will be filling in for Mohammed Badie, 70, who was detained at an apartment in northeast Cairo early on Tuesday. His arrest followed the deaths of 25 police officers in a militant ambush in Sinai and a court ruling announcing the possibility that the jailed ex-President Hosni Mubarak could soon walk free...