Despite fears of retaliation, a St. Albert man helped organize a vigil scheduled to take place in Edmonton today, to protest against the violent attacks against Egyptian Christians earlier this month.
"We are crying out for justice. The hate of extremists must be eliminated," said Michael, who didn't want his full name used.
By faith, Michael is a Coptic Christian and he and his wife were both born in Egypt. Now Canadian, Michael is a longstanding St. Albert businessman who has lived in this community for 25 years and raised children here.
But the increasing number of attacks against Christians in Egypt had an impact here, too, he insists, and include a Canada-wide threat issued last January against Canadian Copts, as the sect prepared to celebrate Christmas Eve.
"There was a warning issued to all churches, which said that churches would be blown up in Canada. On Christmas Eve we were asked to bring ID with us so we could be identified before we entered the church," he said.
In the end, nothing happened here, but Canadians must not forget the threats made to Canadian churches, Michael said. Because of those threats, Michael asked the Gazette to use only his middle name as an identifier for this story.
"I cannot risk my family," he said plainly.
Worldwide protests
The vigil in Edmonton mirrors others held throughout the world last week, including one in Washington, in front of the White House. Thousands of cross-carrying Copts demanded that the Obama administration take a stand against the violence in Egypt.
Michael watched the rising tide of violence in his homeland this year with horror. He worries for the safety of his wife's sister and brother who still live in Egypt. He is concerned as a Christian Canadian, that everyone's rights and freedoms are at risk.
"There are no geographic borders anymore. This could happen in your own backyard," he said, as he explained that a New Year's bombing in Alexandria that killed 200 people, was the incident that led to threats against churches here.
"I had to face the personal question: do I want to take my family to Christmas Eve services? We chose to go, because to stop would be to let the extremists have their way."
Tanks and killings
Since January, Copts, who make up about 10 per cent of Egypt's 85 million people, have faced increasing violence against their churches. The most recent assault took place October 9 when 25 protesters were killed in the streets of Cairo and hundreds more were injured by the tanks sent by the Egyptian military to quell the disturbance.
News reports vary about who is to blame for this tragedy. It's unclear whether all 25 of the people who died were Christians. Egyptian authorities have said that three soldiers were among the dead. The Coptic Church Pope Sehuda III blamed the violence on infiltrators.
Michael is incensed by the church bombings and mourns the deaths of his compatriots, but he is loath to label the bombers, saying instead, "Call them terrorists. Call them extremists. They are terrorists against freedom, against knowledge, against education and against Christians."
He is still troubled by the need to show his ID at the door of his own church. It's what pushed him to take action by joining in the organization of today's rally.
"I don't want to build security walls in God's house. Do we keep giving in to terrorists? If we let them push us, eventually, even here in Canada, they will take more of our freedom. It has already happened," he said.
Several other Edmonton area churches, including the Ethiopian congregation, the Greek Orthodox Church and the Eastern Anglican Church have agreed to join St. Mary and St. Mark Coptic Church in its Cry for Justice vigil. The peaceful and silent vigil takes place from noon to 2 p.m. in Churchill Square in Edmonton.
