CWN - By the end of a second day of attacks on Christian institutions, homes, and businesses in Egypt, Islamists had burned down over 50 churches, a Coptic Orthodox bishop told CNN.
The Muslim Brotherhood had declared a "Friday of Anger" to protest the actions, and Islamic militants took to the streets after gathering in mosques for Friday prayers. Their attacks on Christian targets followed police and military action against Muslim Brotherhood protestors who support ousted President Mohamed Morsi.
“The military tried to evacuate this sit-in by the Muslim Brotherhood, but they (Brotherhood members) went out and set fire to important sites, including many churches," a spokesman for the Catholic Coptic Church, Father Hani Bakhoum Kiroulos, told Catholic News Service. “This is a problem not just for Christians but also for moderate Muslims. We are facing a group of terrorists who seek to set the whole country ablaze.”
Referring to the July 3 ouster of Morsi, he added that “the Church did not support a military coup--on the contrary, the military supported the desire of the people, and the Church is part of the people.”
Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
- 'Horrible': Christian churches throughout Egypt stormed, torched (CNN)
- Coptic Christian churches, buildings targeted in Egypt for second straight day (Fox News)
- Catholic spokesman defends Egyptian army crackdown against protesters (CNS)
- Muslim Brotherhood calls for 'Friday of Anger' as Cairo death toll rises along with number of torched Christian buildings (AsiaNews)
- Hundreds dead and churches attacked in Egypt violence (Christian Solidarity Worldwide)
- Full Remarks: Obama condemns violence in Egypt (CNN)
- Violence escalating against Christian churches in Egypt (CWN, 8/14)