Tag: Kom El-Loufy

Egypt: Copts celebrate first Mass in new church, seven years since closure of previous building

July 23, 2018 Egypt Churches, Copts, Egypt, Kom El-Loufy, Minya

Copts in Kom El-Loufy celebrate the first mass in their new church. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Seven years after their previous church was closed by local authorities because of “security reasons”, the Coptic community in the Egyptian village of Kom El-Loufy, 250km south of Cairo, held a first Mass in their new church yesterday, 22 July. The 1,600 Copts from the village in Minya governorate were marking the completion of the first stage . . . Read More

Egypt: 7 years after church closed, Copts start to rebuild

January 9, 2018 Egypt Churches, Copts, Egypt, Kom El-Loufy

Seven years after their previous church was closed by local authorities because of “security reasons”, the Coptic community in the Egyptian village of Kom El-Loufy, 250km south of Cairo, is celebrating as a new church is built. Last month, with the agreement of local Muslims, the Copts started digging the foundations on a piece of land 700 . . . Read More

Egypt: After 7 years of delays, new church for Copts, who agree to drop arson claims

December 21, 2017 Egypt Anba Macarius, Copts, Egypt, Kom El-Loufy, Minya

After 12 years of fierce opposition Coptic Christians in Kom El-Loufy, Minya, will soon again have a church. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Copts in the Egyptian town of Kom El-Loufy, Upper Egypt, 250 km south of Cairo, started the construction of a church today, seven years after their previous building was closed by local authorities because of “security reasons”. They have withdrawn their charges against 23 Muslims who burned down some of their . . . Read More

Egypt: Coptic churches ‘closed for security’ reopen

September 12, 2017 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Anba Macarius, Copts, Egypt, Kom El-Loufy, Minya

Copts are celebrating the reopening of their church in Ezbat Al-Forn. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Copts in the village of Ezbat Al-Forn, in the Minya governorate, have their church back after it was forced to close “for security reasons” last month, and celebrated this with a mass on Sunday morning (10 September) – the same day that another village church reopened elsewhere in Minya. The . . . Read More

Egypt: Copts worship in streets after clashes over church permit

August 23, 2017 Egypt Anba Macarius, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Kom El-Loufy, Samalut

Tensions between Muslims and Coptic Christians in a village in Upper Egypt have reportedly softened following clashes at the weekend. Copts in the village of Ezbat Al-Forn, in the Minya governorate, were stopped from holding mass at a private home on Sunday (20 August) because they had no permit. Local . . . Read More

Egypt: ‘Copts barred from church by police’

August 21, 2017 Egypt Anba Macarius, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Kom El-Loufy, Minya, Samalut

In Minya, south of Cairo, 15 Coptic churches have been closed by security order, and some 70 villages and hamlets have no church or any place to hold Christian worship. (Photo: Open Doors International)

The 400 Coptic Christians in Ezbat Al-Forn, a village in Egypt’s Minya governorate, can no longer access their church after they were stopped from holding Sunday mass and banned from the premises by police yesterday (20 August), according to Coptic news site Watani. When the Copts started chanting “Kyrie Eleison . . . Read More

Copts in Kom El-Loufy still have no church in their village, and they’re not alone

July 31, 2017 Egypt Copts, Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, Islamic extremism, Kom El-Loufy, Minya, Pope Tawadros II, Religious freedom, Samalut

The more than 1,600 Copts in the village of Kom El-Loufy in Minya, Upper Egypt are still waiting for a new church building, seven years after their previous building was closed the same month it was opened. Ever since the Copts started looking for a new venue, they have experienced fierce . . . Read More

Easter for Egypt’s Copts: mourning loved ones amid tight security

April 18, 2017 Egypt Alexandria, Beheira, Cairo, Copts, Kom El-Loufy, Tanta

During Easter Mass in St. Mark’s Cathedral in Alexandria deacons carried pictures of the seven people killed in the Palm Sunday attack. Photo: Open Doors International

Christians in Egypt celebrated Easter amid tight security and in a sombre mood. While worshippers gathered in both Alexandria and Tanta, in the churches that were attacked last Sunday, authorities made a number of arrests in connection with other possible planned attacks. However, violence continued in Kom El-Loufy, in the . . . Read More

Copts still homeless months after homes burnt down

March 16, 2017 Egypt Copts, Egypt, El-Arish, Kom El-Loufy, Minya, Sinai

Makeshift church in Minya burned down by extremists
Photo: Wataninet

In July last year, four Coptic homes were set on fire in a village 230km south of Cairo, following rumours the Copts planned to turn one of the houses into a church. Eight months later, the Copts – two brothers, Ashraf and Ibrahim Khalaf, and their families – are still . . . Read More

Mob attack damages Copt homes in Minya, Egypt

July 4, 2016 Egypt Alexandria, Churches, Copts, Egypt, Kom El-Loufy

Angry Muslims set fire to four Coptic homes in the Minya village of Koum al-Loufi, about 230km south of Cairo, suspecting a house would be turned into a church. According to Coptic news site Wataninet, two Copts, Ashraf Khalaf and his brother Ibrahim Khalaf, were in the process of building . . . Read More

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