Mounting persecution scaring Egypt’s Christians into leaving

ICC Note: Thousands of Christians are fleeing Egypt for security abroad following escalating persecution in the country and the government’s repeated failure to protect them, Catholic News Service reports. On April 7, two Christians were killed by Muslim rioters during a violent assault on mourners attending a funeral at St. Mark’s Coptic Cathedral in Cairo. The attack was the third day of anti-Christian violence in Egypt which claimed six Christian lives.
By James Martone
4/10/2013 Egypt (CNS) – Mounting sectarian violence in Egypt is pushing tens of thousands of Egyptian Christians to look for security abroad, say Christian community members, church leaders and aid workers.
Some of the most serious sectarian violence occurred April 7 at Egypt’s main Coptic Orthodox cathedral in Cairo, when a crowd confronted angry Christian demonstrators shouting anti-government slogans as they were leaving the funeral of four Christians killed in a gunfight the previous day.
Police fired tear gas over the walls of St. Mark Orthodox Cathedral and reportedly stepped aside as the unknown assailants, armed with petrol bombs and other weapons, attacked those inside the cathedral grounds.
“The police not only didn’t protect the cathedral, but they fired tear gas into the cathedral,” said Alfred Raouf, an Egyptian opposition party member, describing the events to Catholic News Service.
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