Coptic Bishop on the Islamist Murder of 30 Ethiopian Christians in Libya

The nation of Ethiopia has declared a state of mourning following confirmation that Islamic State terrorists have murdered more Christians in Libya. Numerous statements have been issued by religious leaders, including those from Patriarch Kirill, Pope Francis, Archbishop Justin Welby, in Egypt for a “visit of condolence,” and al-Azhar, Egypt’s top Muslim authority. Continue Reading...

Links: Egypt in Flames

Egypt: Coptic church cancels Sunday mass for 1st time in 1,600 years “We did not hold prayers in the monastery on Sunday for the first time in 1,600 years,” Priest Selwanes Lotfy of the Virgin Mary and Priest Ibram Monastery in Degla, just south of Minya, told the al-Masry al-Youm daily. Continue Reading...

Explainer: What’s Going on in Egypt?

Hundreds of supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi were killed in Cairo this week by Egyptian security forces. The protestors, mostly members of the Muslim Brotherhood, responded by destroying Coptic Christian churches throughout the country. Continue Reading...

New Book Looks at the Coptic Exodus from Egypt

In The Wall Street Journal, Michael J. Totten reviews Motherland Lost: The Egyptian and Coptic Quest for Modernity (Hoover Institution, 236 pages, $19.95) by Samuel Tadros. Totten says the book offers a scholarly account of the ongoing exodus of Christians from Egypt, where the “most dramatic” decline of Christianity in the Middle East is now occuring. Continue Reading...

Preview: R&L Interviews Nina Shea

In the next issue of Religion & Liberty, we are featuring an interview with Nina Shea. The issue focuses on religious persecution with special attention on the ten year anniversary of the fall of communism in Eastern Europe. Continue Reading...