20 August 2013

Egypt's political strife puts Christians in peril

Last Wednesday, Ayub Youssef was driving to the southern Egyptian town of Delja where he works as a Catholic priest when a friend called and told him to turn back.

By the time he reached the town on Sunday, about 20 houses had been burned. An ancient monastery was smashed and ransacked. One of his parishioners, a 60-year-old barber named Iskander Tous, had been killed in the chaos.

Now, Youssef said, Christians in Delja were living like prisoners in their homes. "No one goes out at all. Not to buy food, not to get medicine, not for anything," he said. [Reuters] Read more