PERSECUTIONS DES CHRETIENS D'EGYPTE

The Copts: Persecuted Christians of Egypt


-Hundreds of Coptic young girls, including many under aged, are being kidnapped, raped, forced to convert to Islam and marry Muslim men.
LOS ANGELES (Catholic Online) -

The word “Copt” is derived from the Greek word, “Ai-gypt-os” meaning Egypt.

The middle part of the word “gypt” was later pronounced as “Copt” and used to mean Egyptian.

From the time Egypt embraced Christianity in 54AD to the time Islam invaded Egypt in 642 AD, all people of Egypt were called Copts, After the Islamic invasion, some Copts embraced Islam and excluded themselves from the name.

Those who remained faithful to their Christian faith clung to their Coptic identity, and still do.

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-Bomb explodes in front of Coptic church in Cairo, no one hurt

Sunday, 10 May 2009

CAIRO, May 10 (Reuters) - A small homemade bomb exploded near a church in the Egyptian capital on Sunday but no one was hurt, security sources said.

The device damaged a car and a second one was found and detonated by police in the same area near a Coptic church in the northeast of Cairo, the sources added.

The official news agency MENA reported that a car burst into flames because of an electrical short circuit near the church and said the fire was swiftly extinguished. It did not mention a second blast.

Shady Wagih, a witness at the scene, told Reuters the first blast occurred at about 9 p.m. (1800 GMT), damaging the car and prompting police to set up a security cordon.

The second blast occurred later after the police cleared the area, he said.In February, a bomb exploded in a popular tourist area in Cairo, killing a French teenager.

That was the first deadly attack on tourists in Egypt since 2006.

(freecopts)
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