Ease Or Complication?

Watani 27 November 2016 Chairman of the Board 18 Hatour (Hator) 1733 and 27 Safar 1438 Editor-in-chief Issue 824 Year 16 Youssef Sidhom Editorial Problems on hold The Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church wealth of knowledge that dominated the four- The Law for Building and Restoring Churches held its fourth annual seminar, focusing on Coptic day event should work as a beacon torch to be identity and heritage. The vision, spirituality and handed… Ease or complication? Youssef Sidhom Since the Law for Building and Restoring Churches was passed last August, it came under fire from those who saw that it failed to live up to its expectations. Many said the new law failed to achieve absolute equality among Egyptians regarding their places of worship; in this they were alluding to the fact that the new law did not indiscriminately apply to all places of worship in Egypt; it applied only to churches. Mosques remained governed by another law which the topmost Islamic authority, al-Azhar, refused to give up in favour of a unified law for places of worship. Not only that, many Copts and rights activists claimed that the new law gave legitimacy to unlawful, oppressive measures that had been commonly applied by the security or administrative apparatuses to the building and restoration of churches before the new law was issued. I repeatedly wrote advising to give the new law a chance. I said we should monitor how it would be applied in matters that concerned the building of new churches, restoration of already existing ones, or re-opening churches which had been closed by local authorities under the pretext that their opening constituted a security threat. I said we should monitor how the new law is applied on the ground. Would its application serve to ease the building and restoration of churches as was intended, or would it further complicate the process? If it succeeds in easing the matter, the law would have fulfilled the constitutional requirement it was meant to accomplish. But if it is applied so that it compromises the freedom of Christians to build, restore or re-open their churches; if it allows for the prohibitive red tape and oppressive stalling by local authorities that prevailed in the past, the law must go back to the House of Representatives for amendment. In accordance with my call for monitoring the application of the new law, I shed light on the decision issued last month by the New Urban Communities Authority, which approved the allocation of lands for building new churches in New Fayoum, New Minya and Badr City. [http://en.wataninet.com/opinion/ editorial/law-for-building-and-restoring-churches- From generation unto generation cautious-optimism/17672/]. I considered these approvals a good start, but wrote that we ought to follow up on their implementation to check the ease with which new churches would be finally built. This means we must check on the straightforwardness of The Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church had been Michael Victor He talked of the role of the Coptic Church in preserving the the process of obtaining the relevant permits and used to holding two meetings a year to discuss Church policies Nevine Gadallah Coptic language and in translating the Bible into Coptic, as approvals to complete the building, as well as the and affairs and take the relevant decisions. Pope Tawadros II, well as the decline of the language throughout the centuries protection offered by the local authorities for the however, decided to maintain the annual meeting traditionally that followed the Arab conquest of Egypt in the 7th century. construction work to take place without attacks held on Pentecost day, but that the second annual meeting of the weight Copts carry on the national scene. There is an He defined Coptic literature according to its chronological and by extremists. Extremists have been notorious for would be a seminar that would focus on issues with which the increasing interest by the State in reviving the spots on the qualitative features throughout the centuries before and after impeding the construction of churches by waging Church was concerned. This seminar is held in November at the route of the Holy Family in Egypt as tourist destinations—our the Arab conquest. violent attacks against the building site and the Monastery of Anba Bishoi in Wadi al-Natroun in the Western Church celebrates the Feast of the Coming of Christ to Egypt workers; sadly, the authorities have systematically Desert, and coincides with the anniversary of the enthronement on 1 June every year.” Modern-day variables responded by succumbing to the terrorist pressure, of Pope Tawadros on 18 November 2012. Anba Bishoi’s More important, Pope Tawadros said, is the vibrant, living Dr Gamal Lamei tackled the topic of Coptic art and crafts taking the easy way out and halting or closing down houses papal headquarters as well as the well-equipped Logos faith of the Coptic people, which is an extension to that of the that cover a wide range of products including painting, glass, the [officially licensed] works or buildings. This was conference centre. martyrs and saints. “When Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal pottery, metalwork, woodwork, mosaic, textiles, and others. done under the pretext that the works or buildings From 14 to 17 November 2016, the Logos Centre at Anba Schönborn, visited Egypt last October, he said: ‘In Egypt, I He complained that modern times and mechanised industry constituted security threats. Bishoi’s hosted the fourth edition of the Holy Synod seminar, saw faith’. He visited the families of the Copts who had been have all but rendered handmade arts and crafts extinct, and In all cases, the manner of application of the law held under the title “The Coptic identity”. It focused on beheaded by Daesh in Libya in 2015; ‘I want to kiss their feet,’ envisioned the establishment of a cultural centre to revive remains to be seen. I do not expect approvals that topics of Coptic architecture, Church heritage, archaeological he said.” them. Dr Lamei said that such a centre would encourage the concern reinforcing already existing churches would awareness, Coptic literature, Coptic art, Coptic teaching, and The Church’s work is based on creating a distinguished manufacture of handmade products to serve as daily-life constitute much of a problem, since these entail the Egyptian Coptic identity. ‘Coptic’ has its origin in the Christian person. We care for education as in Sunday School commodities. He gave as an example the rugs and ceramic maintenance or restoration works for churches as Greek language and is literal for ‘Egyptian’, but has come to and visiting the needy. “Men and women are equal, ” he said, products produced by the peasants of Harraniya centre in Giza, they already stand. But I have serious worries about denote Egyptian Christians in specific since Islam became the “on our visit to foreign countries as in the case of Russia in which was established by Ramses Wissa Wassef in the 1950s; old churches that require partial or full demolition majority religion in Egypt. Participating in the seminar were 2014 and Ethiopia in 2015, our delegation included the abbesses the tablecloths, napkins, and shawls produced in Akhmim; the and subsequent reconstruction or expansion, since 110 Coptic Orthodox metropolitans and bishops from inside of convents in Egypt. We encourage Copts to integrate well household wooden products of Hegaza; as well as others. The these may ruffle the feathers of extremists and and outside Egypt. in the community and to shoulder their social and public centre, he said, would help market such products inside and fanatics. I even worry more about closed-down responsibility. We also do that through establishing schools outside Egypt. churches that need to be re-opened. Why were Palm for every parish and hospitals.” Anba Thomas, Bishop of al-Qoussiya, talked of the Coptic they closed down in the first place? The answer: Pope Tawadros II opened the seminar with a talk on “The Egyptian identity. He said that religion, theology, rituals and “for security reasons”. This three-word phrase Coptic Church, a history of glory”. He began with the verse in Coptic heritage rites, Church tradition, spiritual heritage, literary and folk is an expression coined by the security authority Isaiah 19: 19, which says: “In that day there will be an altar to The Pope’s words ended with a call to preserve the Coptic heritage, culture and norms all contribute to define the features during the bitter times when an unwritten rule put the Lord in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the Lord at identity in its local and global dimensions, as well as in its of that identity. the construction and restoration of churches in the its border”. The Pope said that Egypt was a unique land. “As a engrained spirituality. The final lecture was given by Anba Raphail, Secretary- hands of the security apparatus. More often than homeland for its people, Egypt is indivisible; Egyptians have The days following witnessed morning and evening lectures. General of the Holy Synod, and focused on the features of not, security officials would decide to appease the the earth as a mother and the Nile as a father. The land has Bishop of Menoufiya, Anba Benyamin, talked about Church Coptic Orthodox Church teaching. He said that traditional terrorist extremists as the quickest, surest way to embraced events that enriched world history. heritage which, he said, drew from sources of the Holy Bible teaching is now faced with the challenges of modern technology restore peace in places of unrest. In flagrant disregard “The Egyptian Church,” he said, “is one of the oldest in the and the teachings of the Apostles and Church fathers, as well as and communication, modern-day variables that have broken of the law, they would close down licensed churches world.

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