Bernat Armangue / AP
Coptics participate in a mass at the Cave Cathedral or St . Sama'ans Church in the Moqattam area, Cairo, Egypt, on Nov. 8. Egypt's Christian minority, about 10 percent of the population of more than 80 million, has long complained of discrimination. But Christians fear things are reaching a crisis point since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak nearly two years ago and the subsequent rise to power of Islamists. The Church itself is undergoing a major transition: A new pope, Tawadros II, is to be enthroned in Cairo on Sunday, succeeding Shenouda III, the man who led the Church for 40 years and was revered by Copts as their protector until his death in March. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Bernat Armangue / AP
A Coptic woman shops for vegetables in the Moqattam area, Cairo, Egypt, on Nov. 11.
Bernat Armangue / AP
A Coptic pilgrim prays during a ceremony at Mar Girgis Monastery, near Luxor, Egypt.
Bernat Armangue / AP
A Coptic girl prays during a mass at the Cave Cathedral or St. Sama'ans Church in the Moqattam area, Cairo, Egypt, on Nov. 8.
AP reports -- There was no mention of churches torched or Christians killed, but the prayer neatly written on a tiny piece of paper and placed atop an icon of St. George in the chapel of a desert monastery left no doubt about the growing fear and despair of Egypt's Coptic Christians.
"Oh Lord, for the sake of all the saints of the church, raise high the banner of the cross and vanquish our enemies, the enemies of the church," it read. "Make our enemies realize their weakness, foil their actions against us, bring joy to our hearts, increase our profit and make us victorious."
There were folded slips of paper all over the icon of the Christian knight rearing on his steed and skewering a dragon with his spear. Tucked into its frame, piled on a small table below it, spilling on the floor around it, all pleas to God for health, fertility, wealth, happiness — and protection. Copts stood motionless in prayer before the image. Others broke into hymns praising his valor. Wanting to linger in the saint's presence, families picnicked on the chapel floor, gossiping and eating sandwiches.
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The past week, hundreds of thousands of Copts from across the country flocked to the monastery of Mar Girgis, as St. George is known in Arabic, in one of the biggest and most exuberant events of the year for Egypt's Christians. The annual pilgrimage at the walled monastery in the deserts of southern Egypt overlooking the Nile is a festival of faith, a time to pay homage to the 3rd Century saint who is one of the most revered figures of Christianity's oldest Church.
It is also an opportunity for Christians to exult in their identity in an atmosphere away from the daily discrimination — large and small, subtle and blatant — that they say they increasingly face in this nation where the Muslim majority has been growing more conservative for decades.
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Bernat Armangue / AP
A Coptic pilgrim holds a candle during a ceremony at Mar Girgis Monastery, near Luxor, Egypt, on Nov. 12.
Bernat Armangue / AP
A woman who believes she is possessed by the devil, reacts while waiting to be exorcised by Coptic priest father Makari, not pictured, during an evening mass in a church in Cairo, Egypt, on Nov. 9.
Bernat Armangue / AP
A young Coptic young girl pilgrim gets a tattoo during a ceremony at Mar Girgis Monastery, near Luxor, Egypt, on Nov. 13.
Bernat Armangue / AP
Coptics participate in a mass at the Cave Cathedral or St. Sama'ans Church in the Moqattam area, Cairo, Egypt.
Bernat Armangue / AP
A Coptic vendor waits for customers near Mar Girgis Monastery, near Luxor, Egypt, on Nov. 12.
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