Egypt's Christian minorities are preparing for Christmas with "resilience" after a year of unprecedented violence, the UK's most senior Coptic bishop has said.
Thousands of extra police and security personnel have been ordered to be on guard over the holiday as part of an ongoing effort to crack down on terrorist attacks, the Egyptian Ministry of the Interior announced last week.
Some 230,000 officers will now protect about 3,000 churches across the country as Christians come together to celebrate the annual festivities.
Archbishop Angaelos of London (pictured above, holding a black stick) said despite becoming accustomed to violent attacks, Christians' commitment to worship has had the "opposite effect" to that intended by Islamic State and other terrorist groups.
"It was the same effect when we had the churches bombed and attacked in 2013, the same effect as the Libya martyrs when they were killed on everyone's screens in 2015," he said.
"It has had the exact opposite effect, where people still very faithfully go to their churches."
Since December last year, 137 people have died in Egypt as a result of more than 70 separate attacks against the Christian community there, according to the US-based Eshhad Centre For The Protection of Minorities.
Eshhad calculates that attacks on Christians accounted for about 89% of all attacks against religious minorities in Egypt over the past year, 17 of which were committed by Islamic State or its north African affiliate, Wilayat Sinai. Premier Christianity.
