Bomb at Coptic Orthodox Cathedral Chapel in Cairo, Egypt, Kills 25

A bomb exploded inside the chapel beside St. Mark’s Cathedral in central Cairo on Sunday morning as Mass was drawing to a close. The cathedral is the seat of Egypt’s ancient Coptic Orthodox Church. Magdy Ramzy said the blast was a “shattering explosion like nothing I had ever heard before.” The attack killed 25 people and wounded another 49, mostly women and children. Reports describe it as one of the deadliest attacks on Egypt’s Christian minority in recent memory.

Ramzy, 59, was wounded behind the ear by shrapnel. He searched the wrecked chapel and the area outside for his wife, Sabah Wadie. He later learned that she had been killed, and that his daughter-in-law and three of his grandchildren had been wounded. At the hospital he sobbed as he leaned on relatives for support. “It felt like the world has turned upside-down,” he said. He told The Associated Press: “This is one of the acts of terror that we used to watch on television. Now, we saw it with our own eyes” (Psalm 34:18).

The chapel bombing and a separate attack on Friday, which killed six police, were described as reminders of Egypt’s struggle to restore security and stability after nearly six years of turmoil. Egypt has experienced a wave of attacks by Islamic militants since 2013, when the military overthrew President Mohammed Morsi, a freely elected leader and senior Muslim Brotherhood official. Many of his supporters blamed Christians for backing his ouster, and scores of churches and other Christian-owned properties in southern Egypt were ransacked that year. Since 2013, authorities have carried out a sweeping crackdown, outlawing the Muslim Brotherhood, jailing thousands of mostly Islamist dissidents and killing hundreds in street clashes.

The report notes earlier attacks on Christians. One of the worst was a 2011 bombing at a church in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria that killed 21. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has also targeted Christians in the Sinai Peninsula, though it primarily attacks security forces, and most of its attacks in Egypt have been confined to security personnel and judicial officials.

Authorities say the group that claimed Friday’s police bombing is linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. That group, called “Hasm,” or “Decisiveness,” distanced itself from Sunday’s attack in a statement saying it does not, as a matter of principle, kill women, children, the elderly or worshippers. The Brotherhood, in a separate statement, condemned the attack. Government and religious leaders also condemned the bombing and called for unity between Egypt’s Muslim majority and its Christians, who make up about 10 percent of the country’s 92 million people.

Witnesses said the blast was probably caused by a bomb planted in the chapel. Bishop Moussa, a senior cleric, said there were unconfirmed reports of a woman posing as a worshipper who left a bag in the women’s section and then slipped out. AP reporters who entered the chapel noted that the area where women are routinely seated suffered the worst damage. Pews were smeared with blood, stained glass windows and wooden cabinets were blown out, and a wall clock had stopped at 9:57 a.m.

Church worker Attiya Mahrous rushed to the chapel after the blast. “I found bodies, many of them women, lying on the pews. It was a horrible scene,” he said. His clothes and hands were stained with blood. Mariam Shenouda said, as she pounded her chest in grief, “I saw a headless woman being carried away. Everyone was in a state of shock.”

Source: Read the original report