1st trial of monks charged with killing Bishop Epiphanius Sept. 23

CAIRO – 3 September 2018: The first trial of the two Coptic Christian monks, charged with killing Head of St. Macarius Monastery in Wadi El-Natroun Bishop Epiphanius, was scheduled for September 23, stated Alexandria Court of Appeal on Monday.

On August 19, the court charged expelled monk Ash’eyaa, whose birth name is Wael Saad, and Monk Faltaous al-Makary, whose birth name is Raymond Rasmi Mansour, with the deliberate murder of Bishop Epiphanius.

Bishop Epiphanius was found dead on July 29 inside the monastery and two monks, who were kept in detention pending investigation since then, confessed their crime.

Monk Faltaous al-Makary tried to commit suicide via slitting his wrist and then jumping off a high building inside the monastery. On August 21, he was hospitalized due to a degraded case of gangrene in his leg. Also, Ash’eyaa tried to commit suicide a day after the murder.

Following the death of Bishiop Epiphanius, Pope Tawadros II issued new monasticism laws, topping which is the deactivation of the social media accounts of all monks and bishops. The death of Bishop Epiphanius revealed the struggle between the school of Pope Shenouda and the ecclesiastical school of Matthew the poor.