Meanwhile, Egypt retreated by four ranks on a list of countries mostly persecuting Christians, going up from the 19th to the 15th place due to growing sectarian violence in the aftermath of Arab Spring upheavals.

Egyptian Christians experienced a disastrous start to 2011 when a bombing at the Coptic Orthodox Church of Saint Mark and Pope Peter in Alexandria killed 21 Christians on New Year’s Day, according to the Christian relief organization Open Doors.

After the ouster of President Husnī Mubārak in February, hopes soared for new freedoms for all Egyptians. But on Oct. 9 the military turned on its own citizens in the Maspero massacre in Cairo, killing 27 Coptic Christian demonstrators. At the close of 2011, Islamist parties flourished in the November elections, prompting some to speak of an Arab Winter instead of an Arab Spring for Christians. [Fathīyah al-Dakhākhnī, al-Misrī al-Yawm, Jan. 11, p. 8]