A woman whose husband died intercepting one of the suicide bombers who attacked churches in Egypt on Palm Sunday has told Egyptian TV she completely forgives his killer, causing the news anchor to exclaim that Copts “are made from a different substance”.
Naseem Faheem, the guard at St Mark’s Cathedral in Alexandria, Egypt, was one of the first people to be killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the cathedral, having been prevented from entering. His widow told Egypt’s ONTV that she is not angry with the suicide bomber, has forgiven him and prays that God would also forgive him.
“I’m not angry at the one who did this,” she said, with her children by her side. “I’m telling him, ‘May God forgive you, and we also forgive you. Believe me, we forgive you. You put my husband in a place I couldn’t have dreamed of. Believe me, I am proud of him. And I wish I was there beside him.’”
Footage subtitled and circulated by the Bible Society shows television host Amr Adeeb speechless for about 10 seconds after watching the interview.
“The Copts of Egypt are made of steel!” he says eventually. “If it were my father, I could never say this. These people have so much forgiveness. But this is their faith and religious conviction. These people are made from a different substance.”
