Egypt

One year ago this week, Christians who protested in Maspero, Cairo, still can’t forget the events of that dark and deadly night.

Egyptian authorities on released two Coptic Christian children who were accused of “insulting Islam” by allegedly urinating on a paper with verses of the Koran, prosecutors and other officials said.

A lawyer from Alexandria has submitted a report to the public prosecutor requesting that Egypt’s Copts be excluded from the committee forming the nation’s new constitution.

Hundreds of Christians were preparing Monday, July 30, for a massive protest outside Egypt’s Constitutional court to demand the dissolution of what they view as an Islamist-dominated assembly tasked with writing the country’s new constitution, rights activists said.

Native Christian missionaries in Egypt remained concerned saying at least two fellow believers were killed by suspected Islamists since Mohammed Morsi was declared the country’s president.

Talk show host Tawfiq Okasha recently appeared on “Egypt Today” by showing a video of Muslims beheading a man for the Islamic crime of apostasy: the “crime” of converting to Christianity and then refusing to renounce that conversion.

Last week, the official results for the first round of the Egyptian presidential elections ended in a run-off between Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsy and former Mubarak PM Ahmad Shafik.

Christian rights activists remained concerned Saturday about the plight of 12 Christians who were sentenced to life imprisonment in Egypt over sectarian violence that killed three people last year.

A court in Edfu sentenced the pastor of St. George’s Church to six months in prison and a fine of 300 pounds for violations pertaining to the height of his church.

Eight Coptic families were evicted from their homes in northern Egypt following two attacks by Islamists on Christian homes and businesses in January.

Chanting “Allahu Akbar” a Muslim mob attacked the Coptic community of Kebly-Rahmaniya last week, burning down Christian houses, shops and businesses.

Last week more than 70,000 prayed all night in Cario, but they weren’t Muslims.

The largest Christian event in Egypt for more than a millenium was held at St. Simeon the Tanner Coptic Orthodox Church in Mokattam, Cairo’s largest “garbage city”. An Egyptian Christian leader called it the beginning of a revival, even though there was no promotion for, or media coverage of the all-night event.

In October of this year, Egyptian news media published stories of an altercation between Muslim and Christian students over a classroom seat at a school in Mallawi, Minya province, which left one student dead. It was being reported as a non-sectarian, that is, non-religiously motivated, incident. However, Copts Without Borders, a Coptic Christian news website, denied the claim, saying, in fact, that the student was killed because he was wearing a crucifix.