Catholic aid official calls for 'urgent, comprehensive' protection of Egyptian Christians
Friday, May 26, 2017

Marlin called for an "urgent, comprehensive anti-terror security network" to protect Christians in Egypt.

NEW YORK—In the wake of today’s killing of 26 Coptic Christians in Egypt’s Minya Province, the head of an international Catholic charity called on the Egyptian government, the US and other Western nations to commit significant resources to protect the nation’s vulnerable Christian community.

Since December 2011, in three separate attacks on worshippers in Cairo, Alexandria and Tanta, ISIS claimed responsibility for the deaths of at least 78 Christians. The group is the likely perpetrator behind today’s attack as well.

George Marlin, chairman of Aid to the Church in Need-USA—referring to the terrorist attack earlier this week in Manchester, England that killed 22 people—said that “vulnerable as European countries and the US are, there is a comprehensive security apparatus in place to prevent many attacks and conduct in-depth surveillance of potential attackers.”

Marlin called on the international community to work still more closely with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi and begin laying the foundation for such an “urgent, comprehensive anti-terror security network” to protect Christians in Egypt.

A regional approach, he added, could provide added protection for Christians in Lebanon and Jordan as well—“and even begin to come up with some answers for the grave difficulties confronting Christians and other minorities in Iraq and Syria.”

“Pope Francis had a chance to enlist the help of the US when he met with President Trump the other day,” said Marlin, who cited the statement issued after that meeting as saying that the Pope and the American president discussed “the situation in the Middle East and the protection of Christian communities.”

“It’s one thing to talk about political negotiation and interreligious dialogue,” said Marlin, “but clearly something more concrete has to happen as well: a major commitment on the part of the US and other nations to fund the kind of intelligence-gathering and unflinching counter-measures that can begin to guarantee the safety of highly vulnerable Christian populations in the Middle East.”