Earlier this month, near the Upper Egypt city of Assiut, tens of thousands of worshippers from the country’s Coptic Christian minority gathered to commemorate the Virgin Mary’s life and assumption into heaven. At the same time, attendees grieved for the 41 Copts, 18 of them children, who perished during last week’s heat wave-related fire inside a packed Giza church. Cairo photographer Hamada Elrasam tells their story.
Egypt's Coptic Christians Mark Feast in Wake of Tragedy
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“I knew I wouldn’t be able to buy any sheep this year, so I’ve been raising them at home,” says 70-year-old Morris, who later marked the end of the Coptic Christian’s annual fifteen-day fast by sacrificing the animals to help feed his large family. Near A
![Haniyeh, a Coptic mother of two from Cairo, says, “We couldn’t visit the monastery because of the high cost of the trip and the recent price hikes [on basic commodities],” owing to the fallout from the Ukraine war and COVID-19 pandemic. East Cairo, on Aug](https://gdb.voanews.com/01630000-0aff-0242-d4b7-08da85286092_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Haniyeh, a Coptic mother of two from Cairo, says, “We couldn’t visit the monastery because of the high cost of the trip and the recent price hikes [on basic commodities],” owing to the fallout from the Ukraine war and COVID-19 pandemic. East Cairo, on Aug
