Yet another Coptic Christian church has been set aflame; and yet more Christians have been killed in Egypt.
On Sunday, August 14, 2022, the Church of Abu Seifein—named after Saint Mercurius of Caesarea, revered by the Copts—caught fire as it was packed with over two hundred worshippers celebrating morning mass. At least 41 Christians—18 of whom were children—were either burned alive, killed by asphyxiation, or during the subsequent stampede. Along with the officiating priest, 5-year-old triplets, their mother, grandmother, and an aunt were among those killed.
What caused this church fire?
Considering that radical Muslims have torched or bombed hundreds of Coptic churches over the decades in Egypt—and often when churches are packed—it is, of course, difficult to resist that explanation.
There are other telling factors: the city of Imbaba, the site of this latest church burning, has witnessed the burning of other Coptic churches at the hands of Muslims. Most significantly, in 2011, some 3,000 Muslim rioters set three Imbaba churches aflame to jihadist cries of “Allahu Akbar.” Twelve Christians were killed in those riots.
Moreover, the date of this church burning, August 14, is essentially the anniversary of when Muslim Brotherhood members and sympathizers attacked and torched 62 Coptic churches on August 15 and 16, in 2013, after then president Muhammad Morsi was ousted. One may argue that August 14 is not August 15 or 16, but August 14 is the closest date to those dates that also, because it fell on a Sunday, would have had the most Christians in the church, making it the ideal day to “commemorate” the Brotherhood-led events of 2013.