“We heard deafening sounds of explosions and crackling as the interior of the church gave way,” said Salim Qamhi, a farmer in Naj al-Nassara. “The fire had eaten up everything — the wooden sanctuary, the icons, the pews and the books.”
The fire in mid-July came amid a rash of recent attacks that have alarmed Egypt's Coptic Christian minority, who blame the government for doing too little to protect them. About 10% of Egypt’s mostly Muslim population of 90 million are Christian — one of the oldest Christian communities in the world.
"The incidents we heard about are very painful," Egypt's Coptic Pope Tawadros IIrecently told an Egyptian parliamentary committee. “I'm patient and enduring, but there have been incidents that warn of danger.”
Tawadros told lawmakers that attacks against Christians average about one a month over the past three years.
