2 monks referred to trial over abbot’s killing in Egypt

CAIRO – Egypt’s state-run news agency says prosecutors have referred two monks to trial on charges of killing an abbot in a monastery north of Cairo last month.

The MENA news agency reported Sunday that prosecutors are charging a recently defrocked monk, identified as Isaiah, and another hospitalized one, identified as Faltaous, with the killing of Bishop Epiphanius, an abbot at St. Macarius Monastery.

No date has been set for the trial.

The abbot’s shock killing took place on July 29. His funeral was attended by Pope Tawadros II, the spiritual leader of Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Christians, one the world’s oldest Christian communities.

Following Epiphanius’ death, the church took measures aimed at instilling discipline into monastic life. Among them was a halt in admitting novices to monasteries nationwide for a year.