Christmas Season Bittersweet for Copts in Cairo

A priest leads the mass in a church in Minya, Egypt. Copts celebrates Christmas on Jan 7. (H. Elrasam/VOA)

A Muslim mother grieves her son, who was killed during a terror attack on a church as he was passing by, in Cairo, Egypt. Terror attacks against Copts increase during the new year holidays. (H. Elrasam/VOA)

A woman holds a photo of her son, a Coptic man who was killed during a terror attack in 2016, as the man’s sister and aunt cry during his funeral in Cairo, Egypt. Terror attacks targeting Copts increase near their Christmas on Jan. 7.

A priest fumigates an area of the church during Christmas Eve in Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 6, 2017. (H. Elrasam/VOA)

A woman named Magda holds up a portrait of her brother and two cousins, each kidnapped and later executed by Islamic State militants in Libya. Terror attacks increase against Copts in correlation with the new year holidays almost every year. (H. Elrasam/V

Men line up at the barber shop to get their hair cut as they prepare to celebrate the Coptic Christmas in Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 6, 2017. (H. Elrasam/VOA)

Nuns and some Copts, who were attending the mass, are looking inside the “Botrosia” church in the cathedral complex following the blast in Abbassya in Cairo, Dec. 11, 2016. (H. Elrasam/VOA)

A young garbage collector watches while other children play on swings as they celebrate Coptic Christmas in Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 4, 2017. (H. Elrasam/VOA)

Coptic Mousa Nazmy plays with his daughter, Anastasia, in his house in Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 6, 2017. “Playing with my daughter is my only happiness in life,” he said. “What I like about Christmas [is] that it’s a holiday, and I can spend more time with her.

A funeral is held for Ises Faris, who was killed during the blast at the cathedral in Cairo, Egypt, Dec. 25, 2016. Attacks on Copts increase as their Christmas season, celebrated Jan. 7, draws near. (H. Elrasam/VOA)

Copts guard their church during Christmas prayers in Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 6, 2017. (H. Elrasam/VOA)