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March 5, 2015

Forgotten faithful

Egyptian Christians hold placards during a Feb. 16 protest in Cairo against what is said to be the killing of Coptic Christians by Islamic State militants in Libya. Egyptian jets bombed Islamic State targets in Libya Feb. 16, a day after the group there released a video showing what is said to be the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians.

A friend who attended a commemoration Mass at a church in Montreal’s Villeray neighbourhood at the end of February e-mailed me this compelling observation shortly afterward.

Published in Peter Stockland
February 24, 2015

Hundreds gather to mourn Christians slain by Islamic State

Over 600 laypeople and faith leaders gathered at the Virgin Mary and St. Athanasius Church in Mississauga, Ont., Feb. 22 to mourn the 21 Egyptians Copts killed by the Islamic State allies in Libya. The church displayed a new icon representing the martyrs.

MISSISSAUGA, ONT. - The Coptic Christians of Toronto and their friends gathered in Mississauga Feb. 22 to answer the murder of 21 Egyptian Copts by Islamic State allies in Libya. They answered the Feb. 15 beheadings with Bible readings, prayers, songs, hope and forgiveness.

Published in Canada: Toronto-GTA
February 23, 2015

Italy and Vatican on guard after threat from Islamic State

Clergy look out on St. Peter's Basilica from an upper level of a new building. The Italian government is on "high alert" after a video threat made from the Islamic State group mentioned the country.

ROME - The Italian government is on high alert after threats from the Islamic State called Italy “the nation signed with the blood of the cross.”

Published in International
February 17, 2015

Coptic Christians increasingly feel endangered in Libya and Egypt

A Coptic Christian woman cries during a prayer service at a church in Cairo May 8.

CAIRO - The gruesome video released by militants from the Islamic State showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Copts in Libya has focused the world’s attention on the plight of Christians there and the government’s ability to respond.

Published in International
January 16, 2013

Vatican laments European Court denial of conscientious objection right

Nadia Eweida, 60, a Coptic Christian, poses for a photograph in the Temple Church in London Jan. 15. Eweida, an employee who was asked by British Airways to remove a cross from around her neck, has won a religious discrimination case at Europe's human ri ghts' court, but three other claimants lost similar cases.

Updated 01/16/13

VATICAN CITY - While applauding the European Court of Human Rights' recognition of the right of a British airline employee to wear a cross on her uniform, the Vatican lamented the court's denial of the full right of conscientious objection in other cases claiming religious discrimination in the United Kingdom.

Published in International