{"id":22245,"date":"2017-04-27T09:44:55","date_gmt":"2017-04-27T09:44:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.acnmalta.org\/?p=22245"},"modified":"2017-04-27T09:44:55","modified_gmt":"2017-04-27T09:44:55","slug":"egypt-need-better-protection-john-pontifax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acnmalta.org\/_oldsite\/2017\/04\/27\/egypt-need-better-protection-john-pontifax\/","title":{"rendered":"EGYPT &#8211; \u201cWe need better protection\u201d &#8211; John Pontifax"},"content":{"rendered":"<style type=\"text\/css\"><\/style><h2><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">EGYPT &#8211; \u201cWe need better protection\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Coptic Catholic Bishop Kyrillos William of Assiut, Upper Egypt, said he had met state security staff following the Palm Sunday attacks which left 44 dead and more than 120 injured in blasts at St George\u2019s, Tanta and St Mark\u2019s, Alexandria \u2013 both Coptic Orthodox churches.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Speaking in an interview with <em>Aid to the Church in Need,<\/em> the Catholic charity for persecuted and other suffering Christians, Bishop William said that until now \u201cour sense of security was not very strong\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He said the attacks were not altogether unexpected given recent attacks against churches in Egypt, notably last December\u2019s blast at Ss Peter and Paul, in Cairo, the capital.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Referring to the need for increased security for the 550 churches in Assiut, he said: \u201cThank God, nothing has happened here so far but we are too little prepared for such events.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The bishop said the representative of Egypt security he met advised the state and the people cooperate to improve protection at churches.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He added: \u201cThe security official made the suggestion that we could train the young people so that all resources could be pooled in order to increase security.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Highlighting the many messages of sympathy he had received from around the world since yesterday\u2019s attacks, he said: \u201cPrayer is the most important thing we can ask for at this time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The bishop said Pope Francis\u2019s trip to Egypt, scheduled for 28th \u2013 29th April, is \u201cmore important than ever\u201d and that the Pontiff had already \u201cshown the courage, precisely in such circumstances, to come and strengthen the people\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The bishop said that, in spite of the shock and outrage, he was convinced Christians would not leave the country en masse, as they have in Iraq and Syria.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He said: \u201cThe people feel a close bond with their country and all of them see themselves as Egyptians \u2013 whether they are Christians or Muslims.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cThere is a stronger sense of solidarity among the population here than elsewhere.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In a message to Bishop Angaelos, General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the UK, Neville Kyrke-Smith, National Director, Aid to the Church in Need (UK), who has travelled to Egypt in times of crisis, said: \u201cMy dear Bishop Angaelos \u2013 you and your dear people have been and are in our prayers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cYour faith and witness amidst such violence and suffering inspire us all.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cMay Our Blessed Lady watch over you, protect and console you and your faithful people at this time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><em>John Pontifax \u2013 ACN UK<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EGYPT &#8211; \u201cWe need better protection\u201d &nbsp; Coptic Catholic Bishop Kyrillos William of Assiut, Upper Egypt, said he had met state security staff following the Palm Sunday attacks which left 44 dead and more than 120 injured in blasts at St George\u2019s, Tanta and St Mark\u2019s, Alexandria \u2013 both Coptic Orthodox churches. Speaking in an&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22247,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-newsletters"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>EGYPT - \u201cWe need better protection\u201d - John Pontifax - Aid to the Church in Need (Malta)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/acnmalta.org\/_oldsite\/2017\/04\/27\/egypt-need-better-protection-john-pontifax\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EGYPT - \u201cWe need better protection\u201d - John Pontifax - Aid to the Church in Need (Malta)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"EGYPT &#8211; \u201cWe need better protection\u201d &nbsp; Coptic Catholic Bishop Kyrillos William of Assiut, Upper Egypt, said he had met state security staff following the Palm Sunday attacks which left 44 dead and more than 120 injured in blasts at St George\u2019s, Tanta and St Mark\u2019s, Alexandria \u2013 both Coptic Orthodox churches. 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