Egypt: 'Step up security before it's too late' says bishop

Bishop Antonios Aziz Mina

A Bishop in Egypt has spoken out against the country's security services and warned of anarchy after attacks against two churches in his diocese left 12 people dead and more than 180 others injured.

Bishop Antonios Aziz Mina of Guizeh (Giza) said the Egyptian police and army were "frightened" and "slow" to act as violence erupted on Saturday, 7th May in the Cairo suburb of Imbaba.

Speaking in an interview yesterday (Monday, 9th May) with Aid to the Church in Need, Bishop Aziz called for those responsible to be brought to justice, accusing fanatics of wanting civil war.

Bishop Aziz said: "The police need to say clearly to those who have done this: 'You cannot do this. It is not allowed.' Without action from the police and the army, it will be chaos, complete anarchy."

Amid reports that it took several hours for the police to restore calm, Bishop Aziz said: "The army will not stand up against the people who do this sort of thing. They want to stay neutral.

"The police appear but very slowly. They are frightened. They have not been strong enough."

The Coptic Catholic bishop described how one of his faithful, 60-year-old Catholic grandfather Naashaat Rateeb, 60, had died in the violence.

He paid tribute to Mr Rateeb's faith and courage, describing him as "the right-hand man" of the local Coptic Catholic priest.

The churches coming under fire included Imbaba's Coptic Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary.

Acording to witnesses, the violence began after 500 Selafist Muslim extremists amassed outside the nearby Coptic Orthodox Church of Saint Mina, where the fanatics alleged that Christian leaders were detaining a would-be convert from Christianity to Islam.

The woman, an Orthodox priest's wife, later appeared on television defending her Christian faith but the fanatics responded by saying they were also in search of another woman in similar circumstances.

Reports described gun shots as well as stones and grenades being thrown.

The Egyptian army have said that 200 people were arrested after the violence and will face military trials in a bid to deter further unrest.

According to latest reports, the military has increased security around churches in Cairo.

Bishop Aziz said that restoring law and order was not enough. "We cannot make peace and reconciliation without first bringing people to justice," he said. "Otherwise, the reconciliation is just theatre and the problems will remain."

He said the violence was "too much for Christians to bear", describing heightened anxiety following New Year's Day violence at a Coptic Orthodox church in Alexandria where 20 people died and at least 70 others were injured.

Bishop Aziz's comments follow remarks to Aid to the Church in Need by Cardinal Antonios Naguib, Patriarch of Alexandria, warning of "a very serious situation".

He went on to express grounds for hope, saying that the military-led government was beginning to take the problem of extremist violence seriously.

Fellow Coptic Catholic Bishop Joannes Zakaria of Luxor described how the faithful refused to be intimidated by threats against them.

Speaking yesterday to Aid to the Church in Need, Bishop Zakaria said: "Last weekend I was celebrating Masses in our villages and I expected that they would be afraid and that it would be necessary to encourage the faithful.

"But it was they who encouraged me. It is not our character to give up. Next day, we pick up the pieces and start again.

"People are determined to bear witness to Christ in the lands where he lived."

Amid reports of growing hostility towards Christians in Egypt, Aid to the Church in Need is stepping up project work including help for priests and sisters and Christian education as well as multi-purpose parish centres.