41 people lost their lives in a major fire at a Coptic Orthodox church in Egypt on Sunday, dealing a terrible blow to a Christian community that has long been subjected to poverty and persecution.
Although there is no indication of wrongdoing in this case and the fire has thus far been attributed to an electrical fault, Egypt’s Christian minority has long been treated as a second-class population among the Muslim majority, and several significant terrorist attacks have recently targeted the Coptic Christian community.
What you need to know is as follows:
The Coptic Church is what?
One of the earliest branches of Christianity is the Coptic Orthodox Church, which recognises St. Mark as its founder.
The Coptic Orthodox Church, which rejected the Council of Chalcedon in 451 and has its own pope who is the bishop of Alexandria and claims apostolic succession from St. Mark, does not accept the Catholic pope.
The Divine Liturgy is their greatest form of worship, comparable to the Catholic Mass.
The Coptic Catholic Church, an Eastern Church in full communion with Rome, should not be confused with the Coptic Orthodox Church.
Along with a small number of Maronites and Roman Catholics, the majority of Egypt’s 10% Christian minority are Coptic Orthodox believers.
Why are they being attacked?
Particularly with the establishment of the Islamic State, Coptic Christians in Egypt have often been the target of terrorism. Beyond the general anti-Christian sentiment among Muslims, Egypt’s Copts have come under fire from their Muslim neighbours for allegedly supporting President Abdel Fattah el-ascent Sissi’s to power.
Sissi took over after the Muslim Brotherhood was overthrown in a military coup in 2013, and Coptic leaders have openly backed him.
The Islamic State posted a video online in February 2015 depicting masked soldiers executing 21 men as they kneeled on a Libyan beach in orange jumpsuits a la jail.
The guys are now revered as saints in the Coptic church after the Egyptian government and Coptic Orthodox Church subsequently confirmed the video’s veracity.
In December 2016, an explosion at Cairo’s St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral resulted in the deaths of 29 persons.
With the release of a video threatening to attack Christian “crusaders” in Egypt, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the bombing.
In addition, two Islamic State suicide attacks targeted Coptic churches in Egypt on Palm Sunday of 2017 resulted in the deaths of 47 individuals.
Seven people were killed and 19 others were injured when Islamic extremists assaulted a bus bringing Coptic Christian pilgrims to a desert monastery south of Cairo in November 2018.
Some Christian communities have been deprived of supplies during the epidemic, and it has been alleged that Coptic Christian women and girls have been kidnapped and forcedly converted to Islam.
Will things improve?
President el-administration Sissi in Egypt has denounced the assaults and has vowed to defend the nation’s persecuted Christian minority, but Christians continue to endure the worst conditions outside the capital city of Cairo, where the national government has less control.
This may sometimes take the shape of Christian-targeting government restrictions.
For instance, severe laws from the Ottoman period governing the construction or restoration of churches were long preserved in Egyptian law.
While many of the earlier limitations were lifted in 2016, detractors claim that most petitions to construct or restore churches are still turned down, particularly those from underprivileged communities, rural locations, or regions where Christians make up a tiny proportion.
Bishop Kyrillos William Samaan of the Coptic Eparchy of Assiut said in a June 24, 2021 report to the Catholic charity organisation Aid to the Church in Need United States that Christians continue to be underrepresented in various sectors and are marginalised in administrative posts.