The growing threat of militant Islam "is one that we should not take lightly," she said, "because they are networked."
"Even though organizationally they follow different leaders, there are links between them, they are well-resourced, they are recruiting people globally from around the world, and they represent an existential threat to Christians and religious pluralism and all kinds of pluralism in the region."
So while the importance of dialogue as an expression of finding common values and forging friendships across religions should be appreciated, it should only be valued to the extent that true goodwill and respect for the religious other result, she said.
"But I do support those who challenge their effectiveness in making militant Islam more appealing or undermining its power and influence and implications for Christian minorities."
A history of persecution
Christian persecution has happened on and off for centuries in Egypt, but this intolerance recently spiked in the 1970s under President Anwar Sadat, who empowered radical Islamists, but was assassinated by fundamentalist army officers in 1981.
A period of higher tolerance ensued after Sadat's death, but attacks targeting Christians picked back up during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011.
The 2011 revolution, part of the Arab Spring, had overthrown Hosni Mubarak, a military officer who had been Egypt's president since 1981. The following year Morsi, of the Islamist movement the Muslim Brotherhood, became the first democratically elected Egyptian president.
On July 3, 2013, Egypt's military ousted Morsi, and in August began a crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood. Violence then spread across the country, with Islamists killing hundreds of people from August to October. Churches were vandalized, burned, and looted, as were the homes and businesses of Christians.
In January 2014, the interim government approved a new constitution, leading to the May 2014 election of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as the country's new president. The elections were boycotted by the Muslim Brotherhood as well as other political groups.
Tadros explained that part of the chaos after the revolution was due to "a complete breakdown in public safety and law and order" in which police left the streets and organized groups of "thugs" took over, meaning public safety was no longer a guarantee.
With a lack of secure borders given the crisis in Egypt and the collapse of nearby Libya, extremists became emboldened, and began smuggling and trading weapons with greater confidence and ease.
Radical Islam also began to take on different forms in this time, Tadros said, explaining that whereas previously terrorists were homegrown and committed smaller acts of violence, the rise of factions such as ISIS looking to impose maximum damage through suicide bombs is new.
"The fact that ISIS is now a player is a game-changer," she said, explaining that with an increase in deadly attacks, there is greater need for security. However, she voiced doubt that the current state of emergency declared by el-Sisi in wake of the April 9 bombings will be effective in terms of protecting Copts.
From a scholarly and historic point of view, emergency law has done nothing, she said, noting that it was implemented by both Mubarak and Morsi when they were in power, "and in both cases it was not conducive to the well-being of the Egyptian population in general."
Since his election el-Sisi has been praised for receiving representatives from both the Orthodox and Catholics, as well as Protestants.
However, even though the situation has "officially" improved under el-Sisi, who has said and done the right things, Tadros said the improvement is due not so much to el-Sisi's efforts as it is to the fact that Morsi was driven from power.
"The situation under el-Sisi is very complicated, because on the one hand there is an improvement in the Copts' everyday experience. Not directly as a consequence of any of el-Sisi's policies by any stretch of the imagination, but it is an unintended outcome of ousting Morsi," she said.
"Never in the modern history of the Copts have they been such a target of militant targeting as they are today," she said, explaining that if fundamentalists want to target Copts, there is realistically little that can be done to stop them.
How can Christians be helped?
With Christians in Egypt increasingly becoming a target of systematic violence and a bleak prospect of effective help from the government, Tadros suggested several things that can be done now to help the 9 million-strong Coptic community in Egypt.
First, "security is crucial," she said, explaining that the ability to ensure basic protection of schools, places of worship such as churches and monasteries, and faith-based organizations, "is extremely important."
Another essential help is "drying out the sources of funding," Tadros said, noting that currently "we do have a problem with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Arab countries funding Islamist movements."
"They have to be named and shamed, and even if it goes to the point of economic sanctions against any country that funds Islamist movements, that would significantly help the Christians," she said, adding that this is "one of those unintended outcomes: if you remove their sources of income, they can't buy arms, and therefore their ability to strike is significantly decreased."
A third option Tadros mentioned is the growth and promotion of solidarity among the different churches in the region. As an example, the scholar noted how Pope Francis called Coptic Pope Tawadros personally to offer his sympathies after the April 9 attacks.
"We need to see more of that," she said, stressing the need for Christians of all rites and practices to band together, because "divided we fall, united we're strong."
Finally, she pointed to the importance of raising awareness in international Christian communities of the "existential threat" that Christians in the Middle East face.
"We're no longer talking about what we saw in Egypt four or five years ago where it's a number of Muslim mobs burning a number of houses," she said. "We are now talking about a broader, new strategic plan to eliminate Christianity from the region."
The global community, she said, needs to "raise awareness and sensitize their congregations of the need to support the churches in the Middle East" in various ways, such as through prayer and concrete initiatives that will help those who have lost everything to rebuild their lives.
Another important aspect is "strengthening local Christian civil society," she said, "because sometimes Church leadership, such as in the case of Egypt, find themselves in a position where they can't come out and criticize governments, there's too much at stake."
"So you need Christian civil society that play the role of monitoring the situation, raising alarm bells when they see signs of genocide and of strengthening local initiatives."
Holding governments accountable is also part of the equation, she said, sometimes by "criticizing the government, and sometimes mobilizing against government policy if it's not going to be conducive to citizenship."
Elise Harris was senior Rome correspondent for CNA from 2012 to 2018.