Launched TUESDAY September 10, 2019. zReportage #711: Keep The Faith: Coptic Persecution in Egypt: Coptic Persecution in Egypt: The largest Christian community in the Middle East, Coptic Christians make up the majority of Egypt's roughly 9 million Christians. But Coptic Christians are a significant minority in Egypt, and they face discrimination and play a lesser part in Egyptian public life than their numbers justify. In some parts of Egypt, the government will not grant permits for churches, and tens of thousands of worshippers are literally left to pray in the street. There have also been violent attacks on Copts and their churches by Islamists. Because of religious discrimination in Egypt, Christians suffer from persecution in various ways. Islamic culture fuels religious discrimination in Egypt and creates an environment causing the state to be reluctant to respect and enforce the fundamental rights of Christians. Though President el-Sisi has publicly expressed his commitment to protecting Christians, his government's actions and extremist groups' continued Christian persecution attacks on individuals and churches, leaving Christians feeling insecure and extremely cautious. The state also makes it nearly impossible for believers to get any official recognition of their conversion. Coptic Christians base their theology on the teachings of the Apostle Mark. Their language descends from ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, according to the World Council of Churches. The word ''Copt'' is a Westernized version of the Arabic ''qibt,'' which is derived from the ancient Greek word for Egyptian, ''Aigyptos.'' Hundreds of Coptic monasteries once flourished in the deserts of Egypt, but today roughly 20 remain, as well as seven convents, operated by more than 1,000 Coptic monks and about 600 nuns. Deadly bombings by Islamic State at two Coptic Christian churches in Egypt late 2018 that left over 40 people dead, brought attention to a long-persecuted religious minority with ancient roots. Though Egypt has approved applications for more than 500 churches (out of 3,000 filed over the last two years), Christians of all backgrounds still face difficulty in building churches or finding a place to worship together with other believers.
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Men from the Coptic Christian community gather in front of an icon in Saint-Barbara's church, situated in Old Cairo, the historical Christian neighborhood of the city.
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Portrait of FATHER AGHATHON, Coptic priest of the village of Al-Barsha, in Upper Egypt. His predecessor was actively - and successfully - fighting Female Genital Mutilation in the village, a fight that Father Aghathon supports and continues. In Egypt, religion is often used as one of the main arguments for FGM, despite being totally absent of any religious texts in both Islam and Christianity. Religious leaders can therefore have a considerable weight in the eradication of FGM.
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A woman in her home in El Barsha takes care of her rabbits and pigeons. Inhabitants of small and isolated villages in Upper Egypt often rely on their own breeding and agriculture to subsist to their needs.
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View of the slum settlement of Manshiyat Naser, also known as 'Garbage City'. The inhabitants of the ward, called the Zabbaleen and Copt for a large majority, are know for collecting the waste of Cairo and recycling up to 95 percent of it.
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A donkey in front of a door with the Coptic cross in the village of Al-Barsha, Upper Egypt.
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An old Coptic woman stands alone during the mass at St-Bishoy church, in Al-Barsha's village in upper Egypt.
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Religious icons and a portrait of the Coptic Pope, Tawadros II, are displayed on the wall of a family in Al-Barsha village, in Upper Egypt.
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Coptic women attend an awareness session against FGM organized by a local association for women's rights in the village of Al-Barsha, in Upper Egypt. 90 percent of women underwent circumcision in Egypt.
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Great St. Bishoy New Church in Al-Barsha, in Upper Egypt. The church was among the first to obtain a renovation permit in the region, and is still under construction now.
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Mothers and children from the coptic village Al-Barsha, in Upper Egypt.
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Morning mass in St-Bishoy Coptic Church in the village of Al-Barsha, in Upper Egypt.
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A Coptic woman shows her traditional tattoos on her arm. Tattoos are a long standing tradition since centuries among the Copts, in order to differentiate themselves from the Muslim population, while babies are tattooed as early as two months old. Still today in Egypt, Copts are asked to show their tattoos at the entrance of churches to enter them.
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A Coptic church waiting to be renovated in the village of Al-Barsha in Upper Egypt, in the region of Al-Minya. Interconfessionnal tensions can be easily sensed through the difficult obtention of permits to build or renovate churches in Egypt.
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Coptic women attend an awareness session against FGM organized by a local association for women's rights in the village of Al-Barsha, in Upper Egypt. 90 percent of women underwent circumcision in Egypt.
© Chloe Sharrock/Le Pictorium Agency via ZUMA Press
