VATICAN CITY - The Coptic-Catholic bishop of Assiut, Kyrillos William Samaan, has told the international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that Islamists are taking ''revenge'' on Christians. ''This is absurd, of course. 33 million Egyptians had demanded his resignation. We Christians were not the only ones to demonstrate against Morsi,'' Bishop Kyrillos said, commenting on the recent attacks on Christians in Egypt. He noted that numerous places of worship had been attacked in recent days, and that in the city of Sohag extremists had even raised an Al-Qaeda flag on the Church of Saint George. ACN said that about thirty churches had been attacked recently, with a spike since the violence starting on August 14, and that Assiut is one of the dioceses suffering the most. Islamists have destroyed the Monastery of the Good Shepherd, several Christian shops and the bookshop of the Protestant Bible Society organization, he noted.
However, he noted, many Muslims have stood up for Copts and this serves as a reason for hope.
''This is the true Egypt: Christians and Muslims are united,'' Bishop Kyrillos continued.
The Bishop stressed, however, that the climate had changed considerably for Egypt's Christians since the fall of Morsi. ''We feel at home again in Egypt,'' Kyrillos explained.
Nevertheless, he added, all Egyptians should raise their voices in support of Christians, and that otherwise they will be the ones to pay the price of democratization.
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