Pictured above: President Abd-el-Fattah al-Sisi attended the Christmas service (Photo: Wikimedia.org.)
Many have been praying for Egypt's Christians to be protected from terrorist attacks ahead of Coptic Christmas, which is celebrated on the night of January 6 and 7. No terrorist attacks have been reported since Coptic Christmas Day.
I spoke to an Egyptian Christian I used to work closely with when I lived in Egypt and she also said that she had not heard of any attacks on churches in Egypt during Christmas, although there had been a serious attack in December.
President al-Sisi wished Merry Christmas again in person
The President of Egypt, Abd-el-Fattah al-Sisi, personally attended the Christmas service led by the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Pope Tawadros II. He has done so every year since he became president, the first time in 2015, when he surprised everyone when he suddenly arrived at St. Mark's Cathedral in Cairo. This time, the celebration took place in a brand new cathedral, still under construction, in Egypt's new administrative capital. The cathedral's name translates as "Cathedral of the Nativity" or simply "Christmas Cathedral", and the Christmas Eve service was also the inauguration of the cathedral. Pope Tawadros and President Al-Sisi entered the cathedral together at the beginning of the service, and the President emphasized in his speech that the inauguration was "a message of peace and love from Egypt, not only to Egypt and the region, but to the whole world," and that "evil, destruction and killing will never overcome goodness, building, peace and love."
One is al-Sisi's attitude towards Christians, another is the unwillingness of the government apparatus
However, my Coptic acquaintance also said that although she believes al-Sisi is sincere, many positions in the public administration are occupied by Muslim Brotherhood sympathizers and there is a widespread dislike of Christians in the country. As a result, they do not feel safe and many live in miserable conditions as internally displaced persons from North Sinai, where Islamic State and other extremists have terrorized Christians and caused them to flee to other parts of Egypt.
Muslims called together in defense of Christians
However, at the end of December, there was an incident where a church in a southern suburb of Cairo, which I have regularly visited, came under attack by a couple of extremists who managed to shoot some policemen guarding the church and some churchgoers. A Christian-owned business in the neighborhood was also attacked. Two Christians died here. The death toll after the attack reached nine. If the security forces had not intervened decisively, the death toll would probably have been much higher. Remarkably, the imam of the nearby mosque used its loudspeakers to call Muslims together to defend their "Christian brothers" against the attack. Otherwise, unfortunately, in Pakistan and Iraq, for example, mosque loudspeakers have been used by imams to call on people to attack Christians and their churches.
Now, however, we must give thanks that there were no major terrorist attacks on Christians and their churches during Christmas. As I said, many have prayed - and now it's time to say thank you. From the Danish European Mission, thank you to everyone who has prayed for Christians to be protected from persecution and terror at Christmas, and thank God for answering prayer!
