More Christian Persecution

Once again, Coptic Christians were targeted for death in Egypt. On New Year’s Eve, just after church services for about 1000 people ended and many were exiting the church, a suicide car bomb exploded causing the deaths of 21 innocent people. 97 people were wounded. This attack comes in the wake of threats to Iraqui Christians from the radical Muslim Al Qaeda group. This suicide bombing was very different from the, sadly, more common shooting attacks.

The Christians in Egypt feel that the government does not take the attacks against them by Muslim extremists seriously. After the bombing, the people expressed their rage, "Now it's between Christians and the government, not between Muslims and Christians," shrieked one Christian woman as several hundred young men clashed with helmeted riot police in the street outside the targeted church hours after the blast.

Flaming mangled cars littered the street and blood was spattered on the church, a painting of Jesus inside, and the mosque across the street. Statues of Jesus and Mary inside had toppled to the ground. Later, after the dead and injured were taken away, Christians waved white sheets with red crosses drawn on them in what appeared to be blood.

In the United States, on the show “2010 in Review,” Katie Couric, a famous CBS evening news anchor, worried about the image of Muslims in America, said “The bigotry expressed against Muslims in this country has been one of the most disturbing stories to surface. Of course, a lot of noise was made about the Islamic Center, mosque, down near the World Trade Center, but I think there wasn’t enough sort of careful analysis and evaluation of where this bigotry toward 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide, and how this seething hatred many people feel for all Muslims, which I think is so misdirected, and so wrong — and so disappointing.” She added, ““Maybe we need a Muslim version of ’The Cosby Show,’”

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak tried to downplay the attack against Christians to prevent religious tensions by calling this an attack against all Egypt and stating, "terrorism does not distinguish between Copt and Muslim."

In Rome, Pope Benedict XVI said the attack "offends God and all of humanity." He also condemned the bombing as a "vile gesture", the latest in a series of attacks on Christians in the Middle East and Africa.

Please continue to pray the rosary to help those Christians being persecuted, and to shine the light of truth into those who are deluded, believing that this is not a spiritual battle for souls. According to Our Lady at Fatima, “In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph and a period of peace will be granted to the world.”