Metropolitan Jonah calls for prayers in wake of New Year’s Day church bombing in Egypt
His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah, Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, has called upon all clergy and faithful to remember in prayer those who lost their lives in a New Year’s Day suicide bombing at the conclusion of a midnight Liturgy at a Coptic Church in Alexandria, Egypt.
The bombing, which claimed the lives of at least 21 Coptic Christians, was the latest in a string of attacks against Egypt’s Christians. As widely reported in the media, it was the first suicide bombing affecting a Christian church. Prior attacks involved shootings and less serious bomb attacks.
No attacks have been reported against the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, located in the same city.
Prayers are also requested for calm in the wake of escalating tensions between Egypt’s Christian and Muslim communities and the Egyptian government.
Additional information may be found at http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/12/31/world/middleeast/AP-ML-Egypt-Church-Attack.html?_r=1&emc=eta1.