A mob of nearly 20,000 radical Muslims, mainly Salafis, attempted this evening to break into and torch the Church of St. Mary and St. Abram in the village of Meet Bashar,in Zagazig, Sharqia province. They were demanding the death of Reverend Guirgis Gameel, pastor of the church, who has been unable to leave his home since yesterday. Nearly 100 terrorized Copts sought refuge inside the church, while Muslim rioters were pelting the church with stones in an effort to break into the church, assault the Copts and torch the building. A home of a Copt living near the church and the home of the church's porter were torched, as well as three cars. (Click here to read more)
January 25, 2012 -
The First Anniversary of the Egyptian Revolution
January 25, 2012 marks the anniversary when the revolution started in Egypt that toppled the President, Hosni Mubarrak. The aftermath of the revolution hurt the Coptic Christians of Egypt with massive persecutions, church fires, the Maspero Massacre, and demonstrations against the church as whole.
Protestors in Egypt gathered again in Tahrir Square, Cairo and among other cities countrywide asking for change in Egypt. Protestors have termed today's actions as the Second Revolution in Egypt. We pray that no more harm comes to the Coptic Church and its Christians after the second revolution.
CAIRO: Thousands of Muslim and Coptic protesters marched from Shoubra to Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the revolution, raising pictures of the martyrs who lost their lives during the January uprising and the subsequent clashes throughout the year.
Banners displayed pictures of Mina Daniel, an iconic Coptic martyr of the Maspero clashes, Mohamed Gamal, an activist with April 6 Youth Movement who was killed on Jan. 21, 2012, and Sheikh Emad Effat, a top official at Dar Al-Iftah who was killed during the Cabinet clashes. (Click here to read more)
Newt Gingrich's amazing victory in South Carolina means that it will be a long time before the winner of the Republican presidential primary season is declared. Halfway around the world, however, another election cycle has produced clear-cut results: In a historic first, the Muslim Brotherhood, together with other Islamist parties have won a resounding 70% of the seats in Egypt's Parliament. (Click here to read more)
Thousands of Egyptians are holding a rally in Cairo's Tahrir Square marking the first anniversary of the uprising which toppled President Hosni Mubarak.
Some are celebrating the success of Islamist parties in the first post-Mubarak elections, while others are calling for further political reforms.
The decades-old state of emergency law has been partially lifted to mark the anniversary.
Here, protesters who are taking part in the anniversary protests tell us about their experiences in Tahrir Square, its significance to the Egyptian Revolution and how the protest movement has changed since 25 January 2011. (Click here to read more)
ChicagoCopts presents a lecture by
Fr. Mattias Nasr Mankarious
about the Copts of Egypt post revolution
The Coptic Winter:
What Does the Massacre at Maspero
Mean for Egypt's Christians?
by the Hudson Institute
“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
Speak up and judge fairly;
defend the rights of the poor and needy.”
Proverbs 31: 8-9
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
We wanted to thank all those who attended the lecture given by Fr. Mattias Nasr Mankarious.There was a great turn out.We also want to thank the following:
Fr. Isaac Tanios
St. Mary’s Coptic Orthodox Church, Palatine
Fr. Yohanna Nassif
St. Mary’s Coptic Orthodox Church, Palatine
Fr. Wilbur David Ellsworth
Holy Transfiguration Antiochian Orthodox Church
Pastor Rev. Raouf Boulos
The Moody Church
We especially want to thank Fr. Mattias for being our speaker.Fr. Mattias was eager to go back to Egypt and, as he said, to be next to his children in their time of need.We want to thank him for being a beam of light for Christianity and standing up for the preservation of Christianity in Egypt.The Bible teaches us in the Book of Matthew:“...let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”(Matt 5:16).
Thank you Fr. Mattias for being the light for us to all see and for being the father teaching your children the love, peace, and mercy of Christ.We know how hard it is for you to see your children murdered, but we know that you are consoled to know that in dying in the name of Christ, they will be saved.
These things I have spoken unto you,
that in Me ye might have peace.
In the world ye shall have tribulation,
but be of good cheer:
I have overcome the world.
(John 16:32-33)
To download the power point presentation, click here.
If you wish to continue your donations for the Martyrs of Maspero and for the mission of Fr. Mattias, please do so here.If you wish to make a donation for the ChicagoCopts organization to continue its work, as well the donations can be made on the website.Please designate how your donations should be distributed.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
One of our duties as Christians is to be active and help others in their time of need. Yet for us to be active and understand how we can help our fellow Christians in their time of need and to be educated about what their needs are, we brought to you a person that leads many Christians and stands up for basic human rights to speak to us.
We are honored to have educate us Fr. Mattias Nasr Mankarious of St. Mark’s Church in in the Garbage City (Zabaleen) Ezbet El-Nakhl, Cairo.Fr. Mattias serves some of the poorest Christians of Egypt.These Christians are the garbage collectors of Egypt.They live on the recycling income of the garbage.Today, the Egyptian Government is trying to take this away from them and outsource the garbage collection to foreign companies.If this happens, what will the Christians do for income?Please click on the following Youtube video to see the image of the Christians of the Garbage City.
Fr. Mattias is a Human Rights Activist and Leader fighting for the equality of the Coptic minority in Egypt.He was active and present at the Maspero incident where the Egyptian Army murdered over thirty Coptic Christians and wounded over three hundred (Click here New York Timesand Youtube video).He merely wishes for them to have a chance to live a normal life.He fights for their behalf to have a voice and to build for them churches without the Islamists murdering Christians; burning and bombing churches.
Many Coptic Christians look at Fr. Mattias as an activist following the teachings of, first and foremost, Jesus Christ – the true savior – and those peacefully struggling activist of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.He was here to lecture on the current situation of the Coptic Minority and answered some of the following questions:
¨What was the chronology of the atrocities against the Minority Christians post January 25 revolution?
¨What is next for the Copts in Egypt after the January 25 revolution and with the parliamentary elections swept by Islamist?
¨What should the Copts in Egypt and the diaspora do facing the new era?
We had a session of Q&A with Fr. Mattias and later enjoyed some refreshments for all to meet with Fr. Mattias in person.
Many attended welcomed Fr. Mattias and recognized him for his work – saving Christianity in Egypt.
We have longed for an organization aimed at uniting all of Chicago's Coptic Americans socially and educating the public about the Copts. During the framing of this association, we stressed our commitment to FAMILY. This association will consist of spiritual and social events, family functions, and activities for children. Chicago Copts is an organization that will forever bond all of Chicago's Coptic Christians, past, present, and future; uniting the wisdom of the old with the new born children, while simultaneously spreading the news about the Coptic religion and culture to our American surroundings. Chicago Copts recognizes the strength unique to the Coptic Community, and strives to continue strengthening this bond by promoting unity between generations.
We, therefore, welcome you to your website. We invite and encourage you to join the association and become an active member. Sign up in the members JOIN page. We especially encourage you to leave an email address where we will inform you of events, news, services we provide, and changes to the association. You can also visit the website for more information on membership and association activities. We want you to know that this association is about all Coptic Americans and the community we serve – there is strength in numbers, and the larger the organization, the more powerful we will be in keeping the members of the ONE body of Christ united.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions.
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Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.
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