Cedar Grove, N.J. – The Coptic Orthodox Archdiocese of North America joins the Mother Church in Egypt and the world in mourning at least twenty-five Egyptians brutally killed in the peaceful demonstrations that took place on October 9, 2011. The Archdiocese offers its deepest condolences to the families of the victims and continues to fast and pray for peace in Egypt.
The Coptic Church has laid too many of herchildren to rest in recent years due to pervasive sectarian violence that for too long has gone unaddressed. The Coptic Orthodox Christians killed and injured on October 9 were guilty of nothing more than exercising their right to peacefully protest the burning of yet another church in the land of one of the oldest Christian Churches in existence.
The criminals who instigated and committed this violence threaten not only Egypt’s ancient indigenous Coptic minority, but all of Egyptian society. It is our beloved Egypt that stands to suffer from such violence and injustice: the millions of Egyptians who understand that the glory of Egypt’s past and the promise of its future lie in the strength and unity of its people.
We call upon the Egyptian officials and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation of the circumstances that led to this latest attack and to take affirmative steps to protect the country’s Coptic community.