A few hours following news by unofficial sources inside St Macarius Monastery in Wadi al-Natroun in Egypt’s Western Desert that the monk Falta’os al-Maqari attempted to take his own life, Wadi al-Natroun prosecution announced the details of the incident. The young monk started by slitting the arteries of his wrists, the prosecution said explaining that a pool of blood was found in his room inside the monastery. When he failed to kill himself, he took his car to the monastery’s medical clinic building, climbed up to the fourth floor and jumped down. He was quickly found and the police was notified. Fr Falta’os was taken to the Anglo American Hospital in Cairo where he was put in intensive care, under 24-hour monitoring. But his condition is relatively stable, medical sources at the hospital said. He sustains the injury of his slit arteries, in addition to fractures in the spine and pelvis. Currently unconscious and breathing through a ventilator, he could not make any comment since he was moved to hospital, nor was able to talk to the police who appointed security forces to guard his room and the hospital. The family of Fr Falta’os were the only people allowed to see him; they were disbelieving of his attempt to take his own life, and suggesting that the accident might not be suicide as it seemed. They were eager for him to wake up and speak.
St Macarius’s was the scene of a recent brutal crime in which the Abbot, Anba Epiphanius was murdered. Investigations
by the police are ongoing.
Watani International
6 August 2018
