By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS Staff Journalist Six Coptic Christians were killed on Jan. 6 in a drive-by shooting that occurred outside a church in southern Egypt. According to the BBC, the shooting occurred as worshippers were leaving a St. John’s church in Naj Hammadi after midnight Mass on Jan. 6, the day the Coptic church celebrates Christmas. After Mass, a car with three men inside pulled up and sprayed the crowd with machine-gun fire, killing six worshipers and a security guard. The episode is believed to be revenge for the alleged rape of a 12 year-old Muslim girl by a Christian man in the town in November, an event which sparked days of riots and acts of violence against Christians.   Police have identified the lead perpetrator in Wednesday's shooting as a Muslim man but have not yet made an arrest.   Coptic Bishop Kirollos of the Nag Hamadi Diocese told The Associated Press that he left the church minutes before the attack. "A driving car swerved near me, so I took the back door. By the time I shook hands with someone at the gate, I heard the mayhem, lots of machine gun shots," he said in a telephone interview. When he looked at the scene, just 600 yards from where he was standing, he saw five bodies lying on the ground. The victims were mostly young male teens. The bishop said he and other Christians had been receiving threats in the days before Christmas. Someone left a message on his cell phone saying: "It is your turn." "I did nothing with it,” he said, other than decide to end Christmas Mass an hour early. “My faithful were also receiving threats in the streets, some shouting at them: 'We will not let you have festivities.” The shooting provoked further violence when the estimated 5,000 people who turned out today for the funeral procession for the dead clashed with police, pelting cars with stones and scuffling with security guards. While they walked, many shouted “Long live the Cross!” and “No to persecution!” Police eventually used tear gas to disperse the crowd.   © All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace®  http://www.womenofgrace.com