many civilians. come to quitting my father says i was a student i wanted to build a life for myself. but suddenly life became alledge. providing insights global news that matters d. w. made for mines. there are one thousand steps in the staircase that leaves from the monastery to the cave or st anthony is said to have lived in the fourth century. for father lucas and the other monks at st anthony's monastery in egypt the cave is a holy place this is where it all began.

father lucas came to st anthony's in two thousand and ten the monastery played an important role in his decision to become a monk today a small motor stands at the place where saint anthony once prayed when this on the horror of the bible says i forget what is behind me and to reach toward what is ahead. i have always been moved by that. this is where i spent my first time in seclusion and where i prayed before deciding to become are one of the. desert monasteries like st anthony's remain one of the most visible symbols of the coptic orthodox church a christian community with a long history and tradition in egypt and northeastern africa. but the coptic tradition is also thriving in cairo a bustling metropolis of some twenty million not far from the musky market district

in the middle of old cairo accompted churches holding easter services security is tight. in recent years islam is the extremists have carried out numerous deadly attacks against the coptic community the egyptian government has put coptic church is under police protection especially during the religious holidays. palm sunday is celebrated with a procession through the. which this is also part of the coptic tradition as is the participation of the men of the community in the liturgy. most coptic women cover their heads in church and during prayer. futhermore course has served as priest at this historic church of the virgin mary in haaretz so violent for many years in the study on the shelf. and i will try as

i'm from this region. i was baptized at the baptismal font in this church. this is always been my church since i was a child. of my years in the church of the holy virgin that's the way to has a very special spirituality and that everyone from this area even if they've moved away come here to celebrate special occasions in that church came. up with enough out of the history. of this i got must but it must be on their flight that the holy family came to egypt. they passed through the country from east to west from north to south following the path of a cross. this is one of the places they rested when they came from old cairo has he. definitely probably we're not

a minority but our church the coptic orthodox church is the native church of the christians of egypt a little bell it is thank god the strong the growing the church yes it is growing as you can see from the fact that there are all over the world you know that i was for many here the attacks carried out by members of the muslim brotherhood in twenty thirteen are still fresh in their memory. have been especially in the field. bothered among the muslims there are admittedly some fanatical groups but we don't deny that lost going to win the muslim brotherhood was in power a door was open to fanaticism but. we saw that during the riots in the rock and not the districts seen effie many coptic churches in egypt were also set on fire. thank god things have improved under our current president abdel fatah el-sisi. ordinary

egyptians do not feel hate the whole of this is an enormous opportunity to live together we have peace be another. measure a feeling that. although there are no official figures between ten and twenty million copts live in egypt between ten and twenty percent of the population there are hundreds of coptic churches in cairo but exactly how many is unknown. the most important churches are in the cities coptic district at the church of surges and baucus there's a crypt where mary joseph and the infant jesus are said to have rested. back in the heart of the well come to the holiest place in the world the world's oldest and smallest church. it will be cavernous where the holy family stayed for three months a church was built here during the app a stall a cage and the cavern church of saint sergius and backus is one of the very oldest

churches and has a special altar apps of the original stones on which the messiah rested stayed in the city. the most famous come to church is next door known as the hanging church it is named for its construction on top of the ruins of an old roman fortress. the hanging church contains many icons which are revered there is also a collection. relics of the saints which draws many believers to worship and prayer . even here in the old muslim city center the narrow streets and alleyways a bizarre are dotted with comp tic merchants and shops.

that. place someone steps a silver works shop is a city institution. as is was self himself among the many objects in his shop are coptic hand crosses. the sleeves have a shot at the him this is an old cross from abyssinia that wow it is about one hundred years or not it's made entirely by hand and out of silver almost normally all of this is handmade you don't see work like this anymore today so not even the crafts people in egypt can do this if you also want to make a cross like this they say no it's too much effort and takes too much time you look at oh no i can't it costs too much if you have to understand every one minutes tonight if you gave wriggled out of. five. if someone also sells bracelets many of which he buys

from bedouins first and then the ball in the with delegates can be shot has been in my family for three generations my grandfather my father and now my brother and me they're what we've always been silver match and so now half the family sell silver the alpha gold. or the profitable part of the business is the trade in silva. we have traditions to maintain a lot of says i can't always do whatever i might please since there are certain ways of doing things and yet. that's how we've evolved. unlike the market district there are many other places in the sprawling capital

that tourists rarely venture. like the slum known as the garbage city. garbage city is one of the city's poorest neighborhoods the people here most of whom are caught survive by sorting and recycling kairos waste. sacks of garbage are everywhere the residents live along side the place that they earn a living from. overlooking the slum district the coptic community has established a place of worship the cliffs are decorated with scenes from the bible an enormous complex contains several churches and a large assembly hall all adorned with cardinals. they are the work of mario who is originally from poland. little. high above the

district and with little by way of safety equipment bends his days carving new reliefs and sculptures it has become his life's work. it's. a day at the. enough for how i started this here in one thousand nine hundred five i've been in egypt since one thousand nine hundred used to work at the don bosco catholic school i talked there when i worked at a place run by the sisters of mother teresa. that is one of her nuns told me about father saw the priest here she sent me to him. i was drawn to father saw money from the start so i said to him father i have never

worked in stone. only thing i've ever made is a wooden decoration for a church in giza. and he said to me well why don't you give it a try meanwhile i've been giving it a try for twenty three years. one of the things that motivates me is that sculptural art isn't really prized in islamic countries. regard me as an unbeliever because in their mind i carved idols into stone which you can worship. i don't really understand my art. is. in the beginning i couldn't make sense of the prayers of the coptic church i didn't

even like the coptic church i only came here because i enjoyed being a teacher for the catholic church. but over time our lord opened my eyes to the coptic church once i understood the depth of this faith i began to appreciate it if the shaft you know you lived that the eastern churches are more profound than the western european churches that i mean. i have such strong faith. and every sentence that crosses their lips you will hear the word god. shadowville it will to listen live at times in my life that i live surrounded by rubbish that does it by our lord to send you to what god knows best to think about if you can see what has been made out of carpet. was made by garbage collectors and

i'm one of them well i know i had no hope. most egyptian copts were a small cross tattoo on their wrist as a visible mark of their faith. as does come thick artist honey somewhere. with hundreds of churches in the city the icon painter and glass artist has more than enough work. yet this is the holy family with jesus mary and joseph depicted as a composite when they came to egypt. the background needs a few details that show their egypt so we have the pyramids palm trees and the pharaoh nick temple. i always create a design before i start cutting the glass design like this one. first i draw it in pencil then i trace it in black. then actions the compass that the virgin mary for example always wears blue for us cops she represents the second haven't i never use

only a single shade of blue i begin with the different types of glass that i work with for example i ask myself what the messiah should wear and then i begin choosing the colors i want to use. many. cops are drawn to the small church of st mary in cairo's site to own district . honey so juarez and his wife know how often come here with their son tony they have a deep faith in the blessings of the virgin mary and the other saints. and that this is. only in the one hundred sixty eight the virgin mary appeared at this church it was april second a tuesday that is the world in good then there was

a wonderful apparition on the dome and that's why this is a very special place for us that it sat. before their money it was an amazingly beautiful apparition that's why this place is holy. spirit it's right. but if you see. it may. well be also. we see you. besides that. light. be gone. spiritual think was flowing pretty quick at the end of them and long as it heals the virgin performs many miracles anyone who is sick who needs something receives her support a ladder of heaven. bigelow i come here when i have a problem or i'm worried i tell her everything you mention and i pray and when i go home my heart is that peace that i feel her interceding in my life and taking care

of my problems how could. i like most every cup to church there is a small shop with devotional objects including pictures of the coptic pope's and the saints. the current pope of the coptic orthodox church tawar draws the second also paid the church a visit while the catholic pope regards himself as a. accessor of st peter the coptic pope sees himself as the inheritor of st mark. at the church of st simon overlooking the garbage city mario leaves to attend a community meeting. that's. going to the church option where there will be a assembly. first vespers and then we'll sing a coptic songs. that i name the. father saw

a sermon and after the sermon god willing there will be prayers the prayers can drive out the spirits and sharpen our language we would call it an exorcism but it's not the how do you know we look at. every thursday evening a group of believers gathers to listen to father some man's preaching. or over you. they include not just the gyptian copts but also parts from ethiopia as well as muslims who believe in the priest's power to banish evil spirits. does a lot of. the the sick come. believe that the lord the messiah will

heal them and we pray for them the longer the bible says lay your hands on the sick and they will be healed. and as we say at the very start of the gathering the gospel of our teacher mark has this same chapter sixteen he said unto them a little as i will i will go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation without the well it believes it is baptized will be saved whoever does not believe will be condemned. most of the believes in his baptized will be said whoever does not believe will be condemned. and these signs with a company those who believe in my name they will drive out demons it is me they will speak in new tongues when they pick up snakes with their hands or drink deadly poison it will not hurt them when they lay their hands on the sick they will get well that is what the holy bible says we do not heal he heals we only act

in accordance with his word was the end was near. those who believe they are possessed by evil spirits come to the front where the priest performs an exorcism. was very last the word will be confirmed through signs through miracles i'm not just saying that like is it just that it will kill you know what proves it. is really the miracles of him or is it. the desert monasteries of one of the el not true are located about an hour's drive outside cairo one of the best known is the center makarios monastery. sank makarios of egypt founded the monastery in the fourth century guarding their careers has been here for twenty two years before becoming

a monk he studied engineering and architecture this is the fort its function was to save the monks life of the berbers. this windows are new the only and original entrance was on the second floor they were going up his in the stewards who are then going in by this beach then they pull the bridge like this that no one can follow them the walls are very thick about two meters they had the water well inside had started crops enough for months had a mill a big career a chapel on the third floor all of their needs that they keep inside the fort this buildings from the twelfth century but it's a place another one was from the fifth century. the monastic cells are steeped in history. in mind thing in sixteen line the monks number and this monastery was six months just six

months now we are one hundred forty their number increased in these last forty nine years and incredibly from six to one hundred forty and the same rate of growth is like that in all of the other monasteries to the monasteries and then honorees as well actually when somebody wants to join them one of three we have two conditions for him the first he has to finish his university the second has finished his military service then he comes to the one and the monastery the elders meet him examine him if they found him for this life they permit him to be a novice inside them honestly for three years. for him to examine himself and also for the old amongst all of them in. the end of this three years as if everything is ok they are doing him as a monk to stay in the monastery for the rest of his life. father carrillo tends to the library he was ordained just a few years ago before that he worked for

a large market valuation company spending time in london and frankfurt for many his decision to join a monastery came as a surprise yes at the beginning people thought that they were talking to him to get food. i mean people in my company thought that i was. making this up fool to. do it for perth and i'm supposed to. and i think you reach a stage in with a loaf with your eyes. or different if you know what their degrees money success. is going to go in feelings not to do anything stuff so short that it's in because look for both. i used to come here when i was very young when a few years worth. and i found in this want to see something very special person very quite and you order a. lot closer to the monks from this is just. and. being

actually it is from the word to to to to go back to your roots and to see what i mean we do in this whole. what you are is what's worked at first dislikes. this is awful the other think is. some kind of small to offer something very special people for its efficiency. and just for the fiftieth to get the show. from the start you would hear but for the wealthy that. fridays sundays and holidays are traditional days for visitors to come to the monastery they come to pray and receive the monks blessings from many carbs the monasteries are a bowl work of their faith and a spiritual guide. i.

move from. not far from the monastery of saint makarios another comp to community is staking out new ground. founded twenty years ago the ana for a retreat is a place where laypeople and clerics of all faiths can come together in contemplation and prayer the retreat also serves as a training ground for social engagement. to end a communal religious services are held according to coptic tradition i i i. here to the service conducted after easter features a celebrate torrie procession through the church bishop thomas who founded the

retreat is still its driving force the. i tell you that we are like a train a train that has very good roads. and this roots is very strong we are very much coptic orthodox church we are very much into the more nasty tradition which we feel very proud of but at the same time look at a tree if the tree is first home game the rules they would have their branches often and this branches that is everywhere every birth was common to that and this is not just france for the tree that's free has its own. rules and that's why we are very much secure the holy are and we are all can talk about the whole words. and a forum has also established a program for young coptic women from the bishop's diocese the initiative aims to

empower the young women who come from a community and society to places many barriers in their way many have come from very poor families where their own needs take a back seat but on a fora they enjoy a rare opportunity to be front and center on a good knock out for. what they are what i. mean a woman who lives in egypt they feel like to live in made me to society this is normal this is something used to have to live with this for a long time and if you think this is very very honorable so i would work together here in this program is for them like say that we want to to lead them to take out of these traumas of the of the suffering of their life so we work on different levels we work on their. own their values on that they are valuable you i'd already to be something to be a different person as a society we make this transformation in their in their lives. and how come we see

the needs of the people and we don't act i think there is enough resources in the whole words it's only that we don't see og. we pay a visit to the village of el or south of cairo in february twenty fifteen twenty one young men were killed in libya by islamist militants all but one were cops from egypt they had been kidnapped forty days earlier but had refused to renounce their faith the coptic orthodox church has canonized the men as martyrs most of the men came from villages in this area. a large church has been built in the area three years after the massacre the bodies are said to be returned for burial the brutal murders shocked all of egypt. being.

punished so where has painted the icons for the church. the work here moved him deeply. photographs of the young men have been placed before the altar crowns of the martyr have been put on the photographs in their honor honey so where is icon does not depict the men as individuals and their shared martyrdom they are all equal at the shrine the artist meets bashir as the funhouse two of his brothers were among those killed. of shia how are you good and you good god protector may god protect you how is your family thank god very well thanks be to god. i'm visiting the martyrs this is bush. is that him yes this is the second brother the motor samuel he's your brother yes the whole both of them and they're both my brothers. this is be showing the choice

the older samuel the younger cannot tell us about we surely you must be very sad. that. the worst was that we heard not. i think while they were being held captive. but after they were martyred all that changed thank god. every thing changed. and so i knew that they had gone to a good place. i know but they got to most of the world once when i was sitting with my mother i asked her what she thought about these murderers of the. museum is a gun she said she asked her god to touch their hearts to touch the hearts of these people and then life in them anyone could do such a thing is not a normal human being. who could just slaughter another person like that and first call on god's name either they kill the one animal that you eat you slaughter it

but a person. we've never heard of slaughtering a human being. that's a person who doesn't know god or anyone who claims they're following god's orders when they do such a thing as a liar. as. we say to them turn around to return to the teachings understand the world understand the true basis of faith then you'll be able to speak of faith and mercy again. not about them but out of the ones we also pray for the killers whatever happened we still pray for them we say lord open their eyes so they can see the light of our lord well lit on the old rub on.

i. think. in their lives. that's what be sure in some world war when they perform their church service is obvious and one belongs to the other some well they were them on sundays fridays and wednesdays. on those days they didn't go to work but to church yeah on the mission machine they were christians before and now they're martyrs sure mark on the one message you know we've been christians for generations they both knew their religion were now harder to show i had his books with him he bought all of the books the pope published or wrote so that he could we can. predict up. of course he read the holy scripture that we were both acolytes and were permitted to carry the candles and services. shall we say.

and i'm somewhat on moment. i want them to see me when they return and take their proper place in their church around the corner and then we'll visit them that's all i want we can see them and only for miles i want them to return here to be with us so that we can visit them. it's in god's hands. and while they may do that our lord is reaching out his hand to bring them here but we know nothing it's in god's hands. in the one nine hundred sixty s. the city of nakata in upper egypt was sent to have had a coptic majority today there are no official statistics for the number of copts in the area the government prefers not to give precise statistics in part for security reasons but copts are still a major presence in the area some still maintain the old traditions such as textile

manufacturing. the city was once home to some three hundred weaving mills nearly every family had a lumet home and today there are only about thirty weaving businesses in operation one belongs to philip somewhere many of the weavers have worked here for decades. hey how's it going. are you ah but let me take a look. yes exactly i'm sure a lot of homeowners are going after. the fact. that i was eight when i started working here. now i'm seventy five. but only god knows my exact age. i learned how to we from my father and grandfather. i give us

a lot of. this right here this is where i got my start. i. cleaned the it's about how this pattern is called like i'm barbara. since you don't know the word bara so i will tell you that it's a pyramid pattern of how the crafts people call it that you would call a pyramid you learn something and then you know this is our craft working with colors but all this type of work goes back one hundred or one hundred fifty years. or originally it goes back all the way to the age of the pharaohs don't know what we found it here and took it up and now we are living from it and the workers here are continuing the tradition. we are in here that this was once

a christian place and this type of handicraft is typically coptic but nowadays you won't find many traditional coptic handicrafts outside of the coptic museum and we no longer we've fabrics using coptic pads. that's how it is traditional coptic handicrafts the old handicrafts that have been largely forgotten there was no one who could show us how to do it either. if you will i. we return to where our journey began the monastery of saint anthony on the red sea . it is a quiet place far from the bustle of the city a fitting location for saint anthony who in the fourth century came here to live a life of prayer and solitude. father always has been a monk for more than forty years this hardly is course said that at the best place

of them when asked to life in the ward with. their first global lungs. were assembled on the lead the fed will send and tony by the beginning of the fourth century and. they have all five that's why they kennie. we give the name of the father of all or monks in the world and of course that and her. father did the most calls the monks to the service. i. as in other comp decor the nox monasteries st anthony's has no shortage of new recruits there are about one hundred twenty months here and new ones continue to arrive i put the coptic monks here it is hard to believe that some monasteries in europe stand empty

their buildings put up for sale i thank the coptic orthodox church and here's firmly to its rituals for many copts these traditions form a ball work against a changing and at times hostile world for coptic egyptians places like st anthony's monastery remain a kind of touchstone. thanks. i . however secluded the monastery may appear monks like father marco's are well aware of the world around them i thought before coming here father marco studied medicine and trained as an ophthalmologist.

before entering the church shoes must be removed also a coptic tradition. for a. few. i. here we can find voxels it's a place where the monk live on the new confines of daughter understeers and here to rocks is a book called in between to make fire for cooking. this place only for one monk is from the fifth century it's called this church was built over this but. the monastery has an artistic treasure the old church of st anthony we did frescoes

. after something. so they put his body on the ground of all those that are in the blood of the church at the end of the four century the church was destroyed many times by peter beattie and people so they came and supposed to destroy and make fire was put everything here but in boss so it was not a story so make new idea. i mean this for. the first player from the first century was the last one from the fifteenth century what you see. is. from seventeenth century up to twenty years ago all the cherish was black boxes blacks quit clothes american when we just clean this icons to be like this.

who sees the difference between the first on the last here in this altered. as opposed to all the files are from the fifteenth century or the from the first century there's a big difference even in cars we move about three players from this world to find the first player. this is locked. when you look at it you'll find. that all black circles like to peel but. you see the sign but you says it's alpha and omega the first and last the three optic i was a beginning and what our face twenty two is off in the lexus so pissing come from the east as well for himself. father marco's tends to the visitors to the monastery including those who are sick and come here to receive medical care. for.

everyone who comes here whether comp chick or muslim is treated free of charge and receives free medications for many people in the region especially the bedouin community this is their only source of medical care there is even a dentist here. maybe you'll find that it is part of the first place but for me it's my home. i left to live here cause it's called please. it makes me proud to hear god's forms.

but this one means comps quite. so and quite close you can know yourself you can't leave your mind. oh no no no you turn all no kids you know all families know all the money we are looking to god he's our sufficiency.

what's the value of a human being. about ten euro's in purely chemical terms. in this brave new world we're constantly being analyzed and revalue. are people nothing but commodities. what value does an individual have made in germany in thirty min w. entered the conflict

zone confronting the powerful my guest this week here in talent is martin helm a deputy leader of the conservative people's party of astounding despite calling for blacks to leave the country feel insists he's not a racist when you see then you almost a double your support by christian c.u.z. we don't want to be face to stone in return for this conflict so for a few minutes because. people here love life. they love their country but not the current conditions. iran but journey through a land full of contradictions. joy and sadness. confidence and doubt. our documentary depicts the contrasts of

everyday life. and help people cope with their. iran bittersweet. starts may second fall on g.w. . trying as president has demanded the resignation of the country's police and defense chiefs that cyber intelligence failures write him to the suicide bombings on easter sunday the government has confirmed information about possible attacks and not in pa strongs from relevant authorities the death toll has risen to three hundred fifty nine. so do it russian president vladimir putin has signed an order making it easier for people living in separatist can show.