#EgyChurch: Sectarian Violence Wrap-up

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Ongoing work, regularly updated. List curated by @moftasa and @MaliciaRogue.

Yesterday was a tough day that saw bloodbath and destruction everywhere. We tried to document and curate things, but I’m realizing some parts 1/ need better focus; and 2/ the current description may be a bit confusing as it mixes updates, different languages and final estimations. Yes, there is life outside Cairo, and while all eyes were on the capital, bloodthirst useless insidious events were taking place elsewhere in the country.

So, below is a (thus far) verified list of Christian churches, schools and institutions having undergone attacks yesterday. I truly hope there won’t be more to add. Don’t forget to label reports with the hashtag #EgyChurch. A dedicated gallery is available here. If you hear of other religious minorities being attacked (Shi’a, Baha’a, etc.), let me know either through a comment below or through Twitter.

Amira Mikhail, Mai El-Sadani and Amir Beshay have independently done high-quality curation as well. Info is available on Amira’s blog.

In the list below, if a source is not indicated, it means I used the Watani International report (see yesterday’s coverage for links).

Churches

Not yet corroborated:

  • Alexandria: attack on the Saint-Maximums Church (source)

Verified:

1- Al-Arish (North Sinai): Saint-George (Mar-Girgis) Church was burnt (sources 1 (En), 2 (Ar))

2- Assiut: Saint-George (Mar-Girgis) Coptic Orthodox Church (photos 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, videos 1 and 2)

3- Assiut: Saint-Therese Church (photo)

4- Assiut: the Adventist Church in Assiut; the pastor and his wife were both kidnapped (source)

5- Assiut: the Saint-Michael Church on Nemeis Street

6- Assiut: Al-Eslah Church was burnt (source, Ar)

7- Assiut: the Apostles Church was burnt (source, Ar)

8- Assiut: the Holy Revival Church was burnt (source, Ar)

Assiut: I saw reports but am not finding them anymore about the nuns from the Good Shepherds Monastery being attacked, and the Angel Michael Church being surrounded by angry men.

/!\ Beni Sweif: Saint-George Church in the town of Al-Wasta was burnt on Aug 11 (source, Ar), it is certainly sectarian violence but not post-Rabaa.

9- Cairo: the Saint-Fatima Basilica in Heliopolis was attack but not burnt

10- Fayoum: the Saint-Mary (Holy Virgin) Church in El Nazlah village (photo)

11- Fayoum: Saint-Dimiana Church was robbed and burnt

12- Fayoum: the Evangelical Church in the village of el-Zerbi was looted and important damage was reported

13- Fayoum: the el-Amir/Prince Tawadros (Saint-Theodore) Church

14- Fayoum: the Saint-Joseph Church was burnt (source, Ar)

15- Gharbiya: Diocese of St Paul was burnt (source, Ar)

16- Giza: the Anba Antonius (Father Antonius) Church in Kerdassa

17- Giza: the bishopric church in Etfeeh

18- Giza: Virgin Mary Church (sources 1 and 2)

19- Minya (Delga, district of Deir Mawas): the Church of the Virgin Mary and Father Abram (source, En)

20- Minya (district of Deir Mawas): the Bishopric church

21- Minya: the Saint-Mina (Mar-Mina) Church in Abu Hilal Kebly district, Beni Hilal (sources 1 and 2, photo)

22- Minya: the al-Amir/Prince Tadros (Saint-Theodore) Church (photos 1, 2, gallery)

23- Minya (district of Beni Mazar): the Baptist Church (source)

24- Minya: the Anba Moussa al-Aswad Church

25- Minya (district of Abu-Hilal): the Evangelical church on Nassara Street (photo)

26- Minya (district of Abu-Hilal): the church of the Holy Virgin. This one seems to be one of Egypt’s oldest Coptic churches, built in the 4th century AD

27- Minya (district of Abu-Hilal): the Jesuit Fathers Church

28- Minya: the Catholic church of Saint-Mark

29- Minya: the Apostles Church (source, Ar)

30- Sohag (Upper Egypt): the Virgin Mary Church was burnt (source)

31- Sohag (Upper Egypt): the Saint-Mark (Mar-Morqos) Church

32- Sohag (Upper Egypt): the Bishopric Church of Mar-Girgis (Saint-George) (sources 1, 2; photos 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, Facebook album; video)

33- Sohag (Upper Egypt): Anba Abram Church was burnt (source, Ar)

34- Sohag (Upper Egypt): the Saint-Dimiana Church was burnt (source)

35- Suez: the Greek Orthodox Church (source (En), photo)

36- Suez: Bon Pasteur (Good Shepherd) Church was burnt (source, photo)

37- Suez: the Franciscan Church, Street 23, was burnt (source (Ar) and .rar archive with images, source (En), photos 1 and 2)

Christian Schools and Related Institutions

1- Assiut: the Bible Society in al-Gumhouriya Street was attacked (source)

2- Beni Suef: the Nuns School was burnt (photo)

3- Fayoum: the Franciscan School was burnt (source, Ar)

4- Fayoum: the Bible Society was burnt (source (En), photo)

5- Cairo: the Bible Society was burnt (sources 1 and 2)

6- Minya: the local offices of the Christian Youth Association YMCA were burnt (photo)

7- Minya: the offices of the Evangelical Foundation

8- Minya: the Soldiers of Christ orphanage was burnt (photos 1 and 2)

9- Beni-Mazar, Minya: the offices of Umm al-Nour

10- Minya: the Jesuit School was burnt (photo)

11- Minya: the Saint-Joseph School was burnt (photos 1 and 2)

12- Sohag: Saint-Mark (Mar-Morqos) Community Center

13- Suez: Bon Pasteur (Good Shepherd) Monastery was burnt (source (Ar), photo)

14- Suez: the Franciscan School was burnt (source (Ar) and .rar archive with images, source (En), photos 1 and 2)

Christian Businesses and Houses

1- Assiut (Upper Egypt): Coptic-owned shops in al-Gumhouriya Street

2- Assiut (Upper Egypt): Coptic houses on Qulta Street

3- Delga, Minya: the house of Father Angelos (Pastor of the Church of the Virgin Mary and Father Abram) was burnt (source)

4- Minya: Coptic-owned shops, pharmacies, a doctor’s clinic

5- Minya: Church-owned Dahabeya Nile Boat (source, photos 1 and 2)

6- Delga, Minya: Seventeen Coptic homes were burnt (sources 1 (Ar) and 2 (En))

7- Luxor: Coptic-owned shops, pharmacy, and hotels on Karnak Street and Cleopatra Street attacked and looted

8- Luxor: Coptic Hotel Horus has been burnt down (source, video)

Others

  • Biblioteca Alexandrina: an exchange of gunfire in the courtyard between MB assaillants and the library’s security and staff. Khaled Azab (the library’s media manager): the glass façade is broken (photo), the conference hall was plundered, and a number of acquisitions went missing. Biblioteca Alexandrina is closed for security reasons today Aug 15.

  • Watani International reported that “30 armed Islamists broke into the local water treatment station in Deir Muwass (Minya) and cut off the water supply to the nearby villages and towns, meaning that should a fire erupt there would be no water to put it off.”

80 thoughts on “#EgyChurch: Sectarian Violence Wrap-up”

    • hatewasabi

      Hi Nicole,

      Thanks for the heads up. But there is nothing corresponding to this link (I can provide you a screenshot). If you see something else, let me know. Thanks much!

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