Church of the Virgin Mary and Martyr Abanoub Al Nahisi, in a village south of Cairo, was closed eleven years ago by local authorities who cited security reasons.

The church members had been attending another church in a nearby village in the meantime.

Around 1,600 people celebrated the completion of the first stage of the new church building on Sunday.

According to World Watch Monitor, the Copts have been persecuted by Muslim neighbors since the closure of the church.

It’s been reported that Muslims set fire to four Coptic Christian homes in the village two years ago when it was suspected that the homes would be turned into a church.

The Christians withdrew their arson complaints last year in exchange for permission to build a new church.

As soon as the charges were dropped in January, the community started building the new church building.

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The National Churches Trust (NCT) encouraged visitors to explore their local Christian places of worship after the poll concluded one in ten people cannot name a single local landmark or tourist attraction – religious or secular.

Tourism manager at the organisation, Sarah Crossland told Premier: “There is history, social history and stories… caught up in those buildings, built into them over generations and hundreds of years.

“So, there are all sorts of things to explore.”

Research conducted by Opinium found one-in-eight people would find it difficult to keep themselves entertained during a weekend break spent in their local area.

Meanwhile, one in eight admitted to being more familiar with fictional settings in their favourite soap operas such as Coronation Street or EastEnders.

Referring to local chapels and churches, Sarah Crossland from the NCT continued: “They can really show you objects, art, architecture and stories in the proper context, in the area where they’re meant to be.

“They’ve got sculptures and monuments that are of people who are local to you and of stories that are local to you.”

The study, which was commissioned by Westons Cider, ranked Westminster Cathedral as the fifth most-visited landmark in the country, with 44 per cent of respondents saying they had been to the London landmark.

The beverage firm commented: “Despite this unadventurous…

Wildfires have raged through seaside resorts near the Greek capital, killing dozens of people and causing tourists to flee.

Rescuers battling through the blazes which destroyed homes and forests near Athens discovered 26 bodies huddled together at one holiday compound, all believed to be family members. Some of them were hugging.

Many tourists and residents fled towards the coastline to escape the flames and choking smoke.

Rev Canon Leonard Doolan is the senior chaplain at St Paul’s Anglican Church in Athens.

He told Premier News Hour one member of his congregation was injured in the blazes.

“One person is in fact in hospital here in Athens suffering from smoke inhalation and that person’s house has been destroyed by fire and so has her car.”

A man passes burned cars in Mati, east of Athens, Tuesday, July 24, 2018.

The two largest wildfires – one 20 miles north-east of Athens near Rafina, the other 30 miles west of the capital in Kineta – broke out on Monday during hot, dry summer conditions.

Fanned by gale-force winds that frequently changed direction, the flames spread rapidly into populated seaside towns – too fast for many who were in their cars or homes to flee, fire department spokeswoman Stavroula Malliri said.

Janet Farquhar, 70, stole £72,155.34 – including from the collection plate, over eight years and transferred the funds into her own account while she was in charge of finances at Chalmers Memorial Church, in Port Seton, East Lothian.

She was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment in April after she admitted embezzling the cash.

However, she was released from prison a few weeks later pending an appeal against her sentence, which is due to be heard in Edinburgh on Tuesday.

According to The Times, the Church of Scotland accepted as full payment the total embezzled amount.

Farquhar spent most of the money she stole on home improvements and was due to sell her own home to repay the money but inhibition order placed on it by the Crown meant she was unable to.

Her son and daughter-in-law sold their own home instead.

Farquhar’s solicitor Euan Gosney told the court: “It is the intention that once the inhibition [order] is lifted and the property can be sold the proceeds will go back to [Farquhar’s son and daughter-in-law]. It is coming from her own funds, albeit indirectly.”

A Church of Scotland spokesman said: “We welcome the return of £72,000 of the funds that were taken from the congregation and will await with interest the result of justice running its course.”

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