The Rt. Rev. Mouneer Anis, Bishop of Egypt, has issued this statement in response to a terrorist attack on the al-Rawda mosque in the Egyptian town of Bir al-Abed:
It was reported that a group of terrorists bombed the mosque, and opened fire on the people during the Friday prayers at 1:30 pm. It is said that most of the people killed are Sufis. It is known that militant Salafi and Jihadist groups consider Sufis as heretics. They used to target policemen, soldiers, and Christians, but now Muslims are also targeted. No group is exempt. This massive bloody attack is the largest during the last few years.
Many world leaders condemned the attack and expressed their support to Egypt in its war against terrorism. We Egyptians are determined to fight terrorism and support President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, who is leading the war against terrorism in the region.
Terrorism is a great threat to the whole world. This fact puts the responsibility on the international community to stop all groups and organizations which financially support these terrorist groups. These organizations take advantage of the freedom in the European countries to raise funds to support terrorists to carry out their bloody attacks on human beings.
Please pray for the families who lost their loved and the injured.
Adapted from ACNS
Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.
