Tag: Church

DUBAI - An Al Qaeda website had identified in December the church in Alexandria, Egypt, which was bombed on New Year's Day as being among Coptic places of worship designated as targets.
Al-Qiddissin (The Saints) church, where 21 people were killed and 79 wounded in Saturday's bombing, was on a list posted by the Al-Qaeda-linked Shumukh al-Islam website of 50 Coptic churches across Egypt. Coptic churches in several European countries, including France, Germany and Britain, also

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict on Sunday condemned a bomb blast outside a church in Egypt which killed at least 21 people, the latest in a series of attacks on Christians in the Middle East and Africa.
"This vile gesture of death, like that of putting bombs near to the houses of Christians in Iraq to force them to leave, offends God and all of humanity," the pope said after his weekly angelus blessing.
The car bomb explosion outside a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria on

ALEXANDRIA - "If the bishop had finished saying mass two minutes earlier, the bloodbath would have been worse," said Nermin Nabil, who was wounded in a harrowing Coptic church bombing early on Saturday.
The New Year's bombing killed 21 people and wounded 79 others, hitting Egypt's Copts, the Middle East's largest Christians community after they were threatened by Al-Qaeda just two months ago. It triggered angry protests by Copts who clashed with riot police outside the bloodied

LAHORE - Smartly turned-out buglers of Pakistan Rangers (Punjab) sounded the "Fanfare" during New Year's midnight service held in St Andrew's Presbyterian Church Nabha Road on Friday midnight.
Sounding of bugles is an annual tradition of Pakistan Rangers and St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, signifying close cooperation between government troops and the Christian community, and harmony between Muslims and Christians.
Rev Ernest Shams who organises this exciting event for a

BAGHDAD - Hundreds of Christians packed Our Lady of Salvation for Christmas church mass on Saturday, defying threats of attacks less than two months after militants massacred worshippers and priests there.
Security was extremely tight, with forces armed with pistols and assault rifles guarding the area, and a 10-foot high (three-metre) concrete wall topped with gleaming razor wire surrounding the church. All cars coming into the area were searched, and worshippers were patted

JOS - A series of Christmas eve church attacks and explosions have left at least 14 people dead in Nigeria as authorities worked Saturday to prevent a new wave of religious violence.
The situation was especially tense in the central city of Jos, where explosions on Friday evening left at least eight people dead. The region has been previously hit by sectarian unrest that has killed hundreds this year.
In the city of Maiduguri in northern Nigeria, suspected members of an

LAHORE: A Supreme Court (SC) full-bench consisting of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Jawad S Khawaja and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday reserved judgment in the Taxila church terrorism case on Friday.
The bench directed the Punjab Police inspector general (IGP) to take steps for investigating terrorist attacks by applying modern scientific methods and train investigators according to present needs. The bench was hearing appeals against death sentence awarded

LAHORE: A large number of Christians celebrated the 150 years of service of the St Andrew's Presbyterian Church Nabha Road on Friday. The church was built in 1860 during the British era. Since that time, St Andrew's has been a witness to the Church at large by demonstrating that devotion in action is evangelical and lived faith brings grace to those in need. Thousands of people have worshipped at this church, and remark on the sense of family unity in the congregation.
The

BAGHDAD: At least 52 hostages and police officers were killed when security forces raided a Baghdad church to free more than 100 Iraqi Catholics held by al Qaeda-linked gunmen, Iraq's Deputy Interior Minister Lieutenant General Hussein Kamal said on Monday.
Kamal said that 67 people were also injured in the raid on the church, which was seized by guerrillas during Sunday mass in the bloodiest attack in Iraq since August. The death toll was many times higher than that given