For Egypt's Coptic Christians, Christmas Comes at a Time of Sacrifice

On Christmas Eve according to the Julian calendar, hundreds of Coptic Christians attend a Mass with a sermon that calls on worshippers to find peace in poverty. Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 6, 2024. (Hamada Elrasam/VOA)

Coptic women hear a Christmas Eve sermon following a year of record-high inflation and deepening cost-of-living and debt crises that the newly reelected general-turned-president Abdel Fattah El-Sissi presides over. Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 6, 2024.

Christians and Muslims believe Jesus was born into persecution and displacement, fleeing to Egypt from Bethlehem, where Christmas festivities this year were canceled in mourning of the mounting death toll in war-ravaged Gaza. Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 6, 2024.

The Christmas Eve meal of a family that relies on subsidies. Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 6, 2024. (Hamada Elrasam/VOA)

Unable to afford a professional painter to spruce up his family's home in time for Christmas, student Abanoub Samaan is determined to do it himself. Materials, he says, are also costly. Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 5, 2024. (Hamada Elrasam/VOA)

Yousef Abu Karrass, a grocer, says, “Some of my customers are paying me in instalments for their Christmas meal items. I can’t break the hearts of people in need.” Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 6, 2024. (Hamada Elrasam/VOA)

Adel Atta, a baker, says, "While our material costs have doubled and tripled [e.g., wheat, ghee, sugar] since last year, we’re still keeping our prices affordable for our underprivileged neighborhood.” Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 5, 2024. (Hamada Elrasam/VOA)

Abdulsaid Abu Hani, a butcher, says, “We’re struggling to make a profit this Christmas due to an exceptionally low turnout, but we can’t afford to close." Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 5, 2024. (Hamada Elrasam/VOA)

Abu Issa, a barber, says, “This season, haircuts that involve special products and styling are too expensive for most people.” Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 6, 2024. (Hamada Elrasam/VOA)

A Coptic man wearing a keffiyeh, or traditional Arab scarf, sits in prayer. Many this Christmas are reflecting on the unprecedented humanitarian crisis across the border in Gaza as Israel's siege shows no signs of letting up. Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 6, 2024.