Cairo, Muslim Brotherhood violence targets Church of Virgin Mary in Zaytoun
Cairo (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Egypt's churches came under attack once again yesterday when a procession of students linked to the Muslim Brotherhood attacked the church of the Virgin Mary in Zaytoun , in the eastern part of Cairo, which marks the site of a famous apparition of Our Lady . The group - which came directly from Friday prayers in the mosque next door - clashed with some young Christians, who prevented the Islamists from storming the building. Thanks to the intervention of some passers-by, who calmed the brawl, a more serious incident of violence was avoided, but the situation remains tense. On 20 October last 5 people were killed in an attack on the Church of the Virgin Mary in Al- Warraq .
The Zaytoun attack was filmed and
posted online. The video shows the Islamists marching on the place of worship, shouting slogans
against the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch Tawadros . On
arriving in the square in front of the Church they are seen tearing down a
banner from the front of the church and covering the façade with graffiti insulting
the patriarch, the Copts and the Armed Forces .
Local
sources said that every Friday after the midday prayer, the Islamists always
pass in front of the church hurling insults and anti-Christian slogans . To
avoid problems Christians bar the doors of the building. Near
the church there is the el- Aziz Bellah mosque, whose faithful militate in the
ranks of the Muslim Brotherhood. Yesterday,
Zaytoun district police arrested a man who had over well 108 thousand posters insulting
Christians and the army hidden in his home.
As
is the case with the church of the Virgin Mary in al- Waaraq, the Zaytoun church
is famous throughout Egypt for a miracle: on June 2, 1968 Our Lady appeared on
the dome. From
then on , the place became a pilgrimage
site for Christians and Muslims .
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