Epigraph:

And if Allah did not repel some men by means of others, there would surely have been pulled down cloisters and churches and synagogues and mosques, wherein the name of Allah is oft commemorated. And Allah will surely help one who helps Him. Allah is indeed Powerful, Mighty. (Al Quran 22:41)

The Virgin Mary Church was torched and looted by a mob, some of whom chanted against Coptic Christians and called for Egypt to become an “Islamic state,” one of at least 42 churches and many more businesses and homes targeted that August, the advocacy group Human Rights Watch reports. Others attacked included St. George Church in Sohag, a city south of Cairo on the Nile River, and Prince Tadros Church in Fayoum, which is southwest of Cairo, according to reports.

In addition to those getting life sentences, two minors were sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined 10,000 Egyptian pounds (about $1,300), Egypt’s official Egynews reported.

Most of those sentenced — 52 of the 73 defendants — were tried in absentia, with 21 already in prison, according to Egynews.

Some blamed the church and other attacks on supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist movement that backed Mohamed Morsy. Morsy became Egypt’s first democratically elected president following the ouster of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak. Morsy was pushed out by Egypt’s military.

Morsy was sentenced to 20 years in prison earlier this month after being convicted on charges related to violence outside the presidential palace in December 2012. But he was acquitted of murder in the deaths of protesters.

Christian churches across Egypt stormed, torched

Journalist Sarah Sirgany reported from Cairo and CNN’s Greg Botelho reported and wrote this story from Atlanta.

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