Christians mark one year since Egypt’s twin suicide bombings

Twin suicide attacks at St George’s Church in the northern city of Tanta and St Mark’s Coptic Church in Cairo, left 45 people dead and 126 injured.

Rev Dr Andrea Zaki Stephanous, president of the Protestant Community of Egypt, told Premier despite extra security in the country another attack could reoccur.

“When security knows I’m going to a certain church there will be double security, but you never know. You can expect at any moment that someone will come with a bomb and create a massacre. So every day we trust God and we go.

“The good news is we never fear bombs or death. As long as we’re committed to Jesus, every time they bomb the church we have double the number of people in church.”

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for both attacks – just as it had for the 2011 church attack in Egypt’s capital, when a bomb was left under a pew and killed 29 people as they worshiped God.

While all attacks have targeted Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox minority, Christians from other denominations acknowledge that might not always be the case.

Dr Rev Sameh Hanna, associate pastor at the Evangelical Church in Cairo told Premier the “secret” to remaining joyful.

“The mood is very, very good amongst Christians who are living in Egypt. Not because the situation is good or bad – that is not the reason. We have two kinds of news…