While the terrorist attack on the Christmas market in Berlin understandably made headline news, an Islamist church bombing in Egypt one week earlier, which was twice as deadly, received scant coverage ~ Egypt’s Copts mourn after ‘deadliest attack in recent memory’ ~

Twenty-four people were killed and dozens more injured during the bomb attack on a chapel adjacent to the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral of St. Mark in Cairo yesterday (11 December). All but three of those who died were women and children.
 
“Traditionally, women and children sit on the right side of the church; on the left side are the men,” a local source told World Watch Monitor. “As it was a public holiday, the church was full.
 
“A woman carrying a heavy bag walked into the church, sat on the women’s side and put her bag on the floor. After a few minutes, she stood up and walked out, leaving the bag behind. A few minutes later there was a huge explosion.
 
“This sent shock waves across the Christian community all over Egypt. Is this the beginning of another wave of violence against Christians?”
 
 
Eye-witness video footage shows the interior of the church littered with broken and scattered furniture, its floor spattered with blood and torn clothing.
 
“There were children. What have they done to deserve this?” a witness told the Associated Press news agency.
 
Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has declared a three-day period of national mourning.

Persecution in Egypt isn’t as bad as it would have been in that country if the people hadn’t had the good sense to dump Muslim Brotherhood adherent Mohammed Morsi three years ago and elect the more rational Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. But that’s hardly a comfort to the dead and injured Christians and their loved ones in Cairo.

Please pray for them…

Father, our hearts ache for our fellow Christians in Egypt as they mourn the loss of those close to them. It is hard for us to understand the cruel hostility that would lead to the killing of so many innocent men, women and children. In the sorrows of this life we cling to the comfort of Your Holy Spirit and to the hope of glory when You will wipe away every tear. Comfort these believers today, not only in their loss, but also in the fear that must surely be present. We pray for peace to be restored in this land and for a great turning to the gospel of Christ. In the name of Jesus who has promised never to leave or forsake us. Amen.

 
Related:
Haunting footage captures an ISIS suicide bomber calmly strolling into a Cairo church before killing 25 Christians in a savage attack
Blood, rubble, dust – and a premonition: Cairo church bomb survivors remember their dead ~

The death toll from the attack at St Peter and St Paul Coptic Orthodox church rose to 26 this week after ten-year-old Maggy Moemen died of the injuries she sustained in the incident nine days earlier. One Coptic man died, as well as the suicide bomber, who is believed to have worn a suicide vest. Some 14 people remain in a critical condition […]
 
Nawal Girgis, whose aunt Amal Atta Bishara was killed, commented: “Christians in Egypt are targeted a lot nowadays. This incident isn’t sectarian, it’s a terrorist attack targeting Christians because Christians are peaceful and are the vulnerable community in the country.”