In the wake of today’s killing of 26 Coptic
Christians in Egypt’s Minya Province, the head of an international Catholic
charity called on the Egyptian government, the US and other Western nations to
commit significant resources to protect the nation’s vulnerable Christian
community.
Since December 2011, in three separate
attacks on worshippers in Cairo, Alexandria and Tanta, ISIS claimed
responsibility for the deaths of at least 78 Christians. The group is the
likely perpetrator behind today’s attack as well.
George Marlin, chairman of Aid to the
Church in Need-USA—referring to the terrorist attack earlier this week in
Manchester, England that killed 22 people—said that “vulnerable as European
countries and the US are, there is a comprehensive security apparatus in place
to prevent many attacks and conduct in-depth surveillance of potential
attackers.”
Marlin called on the international
community to work still more closely with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah
el-Sisi and begin laying the foundation for such an “urgent, comprehensive
anti-terror security network” to protect Christians in Egypt.
A regional approach, he added, could
provide added protection for Christians in Lebanon and Jordan as well—“and even
begin to come up with some answers for the grave difficulties confronting
Christians and other minorities in Iraq and Syria.”
“Pope Francis had a chance to enlist the
help of the US when he met with President Trump the other day,” said Marlin,
who cited the statement issued after that meeting as saying that the Pope and
the American president discussed “the situation in the Middle East and the
protection of Christian communities.”
“It’s one thing to talk about political
negotiation and interreligious dialogue,” said Marlin, “but clearly something
more concrete has to happen as well: a major commitment on the part of the US
and other nations to fund the kind of intelligence-gathering and unflinching
counter-measures that can begin to guarantee the safety of highly vulnerable
Christian populations in the Middle East.”
Editor’s Notes:
Directly under the
Holy Father, Aid to the Church in Need supports
the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need.
ACN is a Catholic charity - helping to bring Christ to the world through
prayer, information and action.
Founded in 1947 by Father Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul
II named “An Outstanding Apostle of Charity,” the organization is now at work
in over 145 countries throughout the world.
The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including
providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church
buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since
the initiative’s launch in 1979, 43 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed
worldwide.
For more information contact Michael Varenne at
michael@churchinneed.org or call
718-609-0939 or fax 718-609-0938. Aid to the Church in Need, 725 Leonard
Street, PO Box 220384, Brooklyn, NY 11222-0384.
www.churchinneed.org
