Another Coptic Christian clergyman was murdered in cold blood in Egypt today [this article was originally published on Thursday, April 7]. Local Christian media reported that, while walking in a crowded street of Alexandria with a group of church youth and his own family, Fr. Arsenius Wadid was repeatedly stabbed in the neck by an unidentified but bearded man, killing him.
Fr. Arsenius, 56, headed the Church of the Virgin Mary in Muharram Bay and later the Saint Paul Church of Alexandria. He was ordained in 1996.
As this just happened, details are still sparse and sometimes contradictory. Some sources say that Arsenius died instantly, in the middle of the street in front of his traumatized family and youth group, while others say he was rushed to a hospital but died soon thereafter of his wound.
The assailant was apprehended and handed over to police by people who witnessed the murder. According to one source, “preliminary investigations [are expected, as usual] to suggest the suspect is mentally unstable in preparation for him to escape justice.”
Egyptian media will no doubt attempt to portray this murder as a strange and unexpected aberration. In reality, it is part of an ongoing continuum, whereby extremist Muslims in Egypt randomly target and attack, and often slaughter, Coptic Christian clergymen.
In one especially notable—because very similar—incident, a Muslim man slaughtered a Christian priest in broad daylight. Security camera footage (formerly viewable here) captured a man with a large butcher knife chasing and stabbing Fr. Samaan Shehata—including in the head, neck, and torso—in the streets of Cairo on October 12, 2017.
Some personally acquainted with the murderer, Ahmed Saeed Ibrahim, confirmed that he had recently “begun praying in the street, shouting loudly and calling Christians infidels.” As for motive, one report said “he had decided to kill any Coptic priest, purchased a dagger, and lay in wait for one to pass by, in a street leading to the local church.” His father “is more of a terrorist than his son,” added one woman; he “used to stop children on their way back from church and say, ‘You are multiplying, may Allah destroy your houses and burn you all. You have filled our neighborhood with filth.’”
Even so, and as Egyptian authorities appear to be positioning themselves to say about this more recent murder of Fr. Arsenius, so too back in 2017 authorities labeled Ahmed as “crazy,” prompting one Copt to ask: “Why is it that anyone who kills Christians is crazy? The person who killed two Christians in a train was crazy. We got used to this, and are expecting [that the murderer] will soon be released too. We don’t want to be unfair to anyone, but Ahmed Saeed is not crazy, he’s a religious extremist.”
One can cite more examples—in 2013, Coptic priest Mina Cheroubim was shot dead as he left his church in al-Arish, north Sinai—but the point of what happened to Fr. Arsenius, and why, should be clear by now.
This is how it is in this world. One standard for Jews & Christians & another for everyone else. We are the favourite target – whatever form the persecution takes.
Margaret Rouhani
This is horrible. Glad my family left Egypt. Many of them returned to visit the synagogue in Cairo and the Jewish cemetary. Me personally, I would never go back. No reason. I prefer to move on. They have expressed a desire for me to go and not come back. I will accomodate.
This breaks my heart 💔.
Well, the trials and tribulations the Lord Jesus Christ has foretold are unfolding before our eyes. What we see in the world is proof of what Christ said what will come. I pray for my brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ in Egypt 🇪🇬. Although I am a Westerner and a Protestant l am deeply concerned about the Copts well-being in Egypt. I have read about “Jihad of the Womb.” And I find it sickening 🤢🤮. I really hate how a ‘Desert Cult’ zero-in on Christian women and attack them for humiliation. I cannot imagine the horror of being a Coptic mother and Muslim men want my nine year old daughter to bed. I cannot imagine being a single-mother in poverty living in Egypt with ‘Desert Cult’ surrounding me. I really care about the well-being of the Coptic women who are persecuted in Egypt and elsewhere.
REST IN:PEACE FATHER………..from Trevor in New Zealand.
Rest in Peace Fr. Arsinius from your brothers in Christ.
They’re all crazy, but that’s no excuse, and crazy is an inexcusable defense.
Crazy? Maybe. I think it’s fear that drives them crazy. Fear of Christianity – which is why leftists are using Islam to try to destroy it.
Hadn’t thought about fear Mary. Looks like sheer hatred mostly. I’ve seen films of kids, talking grade school pre-teen, being taught to run up to a dummy and stab it multiple times.
Saw another short video of beautiful young children singing at a Philadelphia USA mosque, as the lyrics continued they joyfully talked about killing and beheading infidels.
The blogger who had a collection of those brief revealing episodes, got tossed off YouTube. Can’t find him now. I had all the links saved, but they no longer work.
Remember Raymond’s article with a picture of French historian Hillaire Belloc’s warning after Ataturk secularized or westernized Islam in Turkey – – “…the West has had no more formidable and persistent enemy…and it may become at any moment, as much a menace in the future as it has been in the past. – –
I think we are in Belloc’s moment.
And, I continue to try and contact people of influence in high positions.
I’m still optimistic because of what I see happening in the states. The bankruptcy of the leftist policies is on full display.
We are expecting a conservative (Republicans, Independents, Democrats with us) tsunami of votes and change in political power in our mid-term elections this year. It has the possibility of stopping the errant and destructive progressive policies of the Biden (really Obama 3rd term) administration.
Appreciate very much your vast knowledge and experience.
Stay safe and well
Yes Don. Both fear and hatred. I have seen children too in the Palestinian camps when I was in Beirut. Young children shouting pretending they had guns and killing Jews. You too stay safe Don and God help us and protect Raymond and his family.
Thx Mary, that’s another valuable insight in the camps.
And on thinking further about fear, I have to agree with you, considering the many cautions in their doctrine not to befriend infidels or associate with them unnecessarily lest they be drawn away.
Death for apostacy another fear inspired rule. They have no real confidence in the power of goodness to sustain their doctrines in the minds of the people.
Good point to remember.