Cairo, Egypt, Apr 20, 2017 / 06:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Egyptian police on Sunday arrested 13 people who were planning attacks against Christians and public institutions in the country.
The April 16 arrests take on greater importance as Pope Francis prepares to visit Egypt at the end of the month.
According to Aid to the Church in Need, the arrests of these terrorists reveal “how these extremist groups continue to target the Christian community after the double attack against two churches in Tanta and Alexandria on Palm Sunday.”
The attacks of April 9 which caused the death of 44 Christians and injured more than 100, were claimed by the Islamic State, which led the authorities to implement security measures outside churches.
The attacks made the government decree a state of emergency for three months, to which was joined the decision by some Christians to celebrate discretely Easter Sunday .
Egypt has a population of 92 million people who are mostly Muslim. Christians are about 10 percent of the population, and have been victims of a number of recent attacks and assaults.
Article Archive
13 planning attacks on Christians arrested in Egypt
Related Articles • More Articles
Father Timothy Furlow speaks from the ambo at St. Patrick's Church in Portland, Oregon. / Credit: St. Patrick's Church in Portland, OregonCNA Staff, May 13, 2024 / 11:16 am (CNA).A pastor in Portland, Oregon, recently urged his parish to pray for a vandal who defaced the church building with vulgar graffiti, arguing that the controversy gets to the "core message" of the Gospel itself. A vandal tagged St. Patrick's Church in Portland with several graffiti in April that read "[expletive] you, my body my choice," a popular slogan for the pro-abortion movement. In his homily the morning the graffiti was discovered, the parish's pastor, Father Timothy Furlow, told parishioners that he deliberately left the vulgar message visible for the faithful to see on their way to Mass. "I wanted you to see it," he said. "Somebody said, 'Oh, we got to cover this up.' And then I'm like, nope. I want them to see that." "And the reason is because it fits kind of perfectly with w...
The new rule authorizes border agents to screen asylum seekers for "national security, criminal, or other public safety concern[s]" at the "earliest stage possible." Those flagged as potential threats to the U.S. and its citizens can be denied entry into the U.S. immediately. / Credit: Wikimedia CommonsWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 13, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).As communities on the U.S. southern border continue to face a record surge of migrants, the Biden administration has proposed a new rule meant to stop people who pose national security threats from remaining in the country.The Biden administration said the rule, which is set to be entered into the Federal Register today, will "enhance operational flexibility" and help the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) "more swiftly remove certain noncitizens who are barred from asylum.""The proposed rule we have published today is yet another step in our ongoing efforts to ensure the safety of the American public by more quickly ide...
As parishioners and police respond to the threat of an armed intruder, clergy at St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church in Abbeville, Louisiana take cover behind the altar on May 11, 2024. / Credit: Saint Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Abbeville, LouisianaCNA Newsroom, May 12, 2024 / 13:10 pm (CNA).Quick action by alert parishioners and local police are credited with averting a tragedy at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Abbeville, Louisiana yesterday.As 60 children were preparing for their first communion, the parish located south of Lafayette, Louisiana reported that an armed "suspicious person opened the back door." "The individual was immediately confronted by parishioners, escorted outside and the police were called," the parish indicated in a statement. In an interview with the Acadiana Advocate, Abbeville Police Chief Mike Hardy credited parishioners for having disarmed the suspect and having him already pinned to the ground when police arrived.A livestream v...