I have thought about the suitable title for this article...
Perhaps
because I am pointing to several topics…
Connected...
Complicated...
They
can’t be dealt with in such a separated sequence...
And
the concept of “Crown of thorns” is well known and easily understood for the
Copts...
As
it reminds them of the crown which was made of thorns to be placed on the
head of Jesus Christ, praise on him, in crucifixion...
The
concept might be acknowledged by some Muslim people who are cultured with the
Coptic civilization...
In
a way or another, I tried to use the title in reference to a specified significance
from this analysis and the title might identify it...
An expression that may contain some kind of an interesting contradiction...
Pains...
Value...
Thoughts...
A
crown made of thorns...
A
crown...
Complex
thorns...
You
can’t divide or disunite it unless you wear something to protect you...
Crown...
head... thought... value... acceptance... refusal...
I
hope you accept my apologies for the circumlocution and exaggeration in my
analysis...
You
may feel some boredom...
Or
even I will seek it so that it could not be read...
And
I will tend to the famous method of wars...
Fleeing
and scampering...
When
I come too close to declare my message, I will directly go far by using some
general words...
That
is because of the high amount of complication, this analysis has...
Sensitivity
as well...
Focusing
on the well-known culture principle...
That contrary opinion doesn’t affect respect or amiability...
I
will start by specifying my points...
Be
attentive...
I
will flee now...
First:
the political support’s concept which is presented from Copts to the governor
of the country...
Second:
renovating and updating the Coptic Church through the high qualifications the campaign made by “Pope Kyrillos” the sixth which resulted in some advantages and
disadvantages...
Third:
the concept of Copt’s acceptance for pain and suffering within the
globalization ideas...
Fourth:
Pope Shenouda the third’s decision with preventing the Copts from visiting “
Fifth:
Pope Shenouda the third’s decision’s effect on the Modern Coptic perspective
and worshiping the saints...
Yes...
That’s
what I would like to discuss in this analysis...
I
think that title is having an echo on my points...
As
I think that the five terms which I’d like to point to in my survey, have a
decree of aridity...
I’d
not rather use the shocking expressions...
So
I will build my analysis on the fleeing and scampering Technique...
The
maneuver...
The closest approach to the direct purpose...
In
an indirect way...
First
of all...
I
like to assure on some particular points...
Those
lines’ writer is a Coptic Christian Orthodox, religiously obedient to Pope
Shenouda the third, the Copts spiritual father, as well the bishops of the
Coptic church, the Archbishops, and all the religious commands declared by the
holy assembly...
I
am one of the generations who were raised up on the thoughts of the beloved
Pope Shenouda the third and I really like to read his magnificent books and
listening to his specific strong speeches..
What
has influenced me was a collection of his memorable writings under the title
of:
“Life’s
experiences and a profitable word”
I
acclaim my full obedience and respect for all religious decisions which were
announced by “Pope Shenouda the third”.. Acknowledging that obedience is doing
even what doesn’t make any sense...
For
instance: if a commander ordered someone the following:
“If
you feel thirst, you can go to drink!!”
And
he obeyed...
It
doesn’t mean a matter of obedience...
It
is a natural automatic thing to do...
But
in the case the commander ordered by saying:
“If
you feel thirst, don’t go to drink!!”
And
the ordered one has obeyed...
That
is called obedience...
It
is to execute what you are not even convinced of...
And
I assure once again of my genuine obedience...
If
I discussed some points in a calm method, it is not a preface for my
disobedience...
I
repeat my respect, love, and obedience to “Pope Shenouda the third”...
So
as not to give a thought for the distrustful...
Or
even thoughts...
And
here we go again...
I
will discuss the five points altogether...
Without
trying to divide or separate these points because they are highly connected...
But
I would just try to clear my points...
Over
history, Copts were known for their affableness and gentleness...
History
never classified them as the fifth column...
There
are many witnesses in the modern and old history that prove their refusal on
the combat or engagement with their brothers inland, Muslims, or even
justifying this to let any foreign power interfere for protecting the
minority.
Since
in the 19th Century, the Caesar of Russia addressed an invitation to
protect the Copts and, they have clearly and not surprisingly refused this
invitation...
Copts
and Muslims participated together in every revolution and movement, were before
the revolution of July 1952 against the British occupation...
And
that was normal...
The
Copts politically supported the leader “Saad Zaghloul” against the British
occupation...
Then,
the revolution of July 1952 has taken off...
Never
heard of the Copts denial of this revolution...
In
1959, Pope Kyrillos the Sixth was appointed a father for the Copts...
President
Sadat attended the church appointment ceremony as the republic vice president...
Not
to mention,
President
Nasser was at his greater esteem...
Major
Nasser, who was in July 1952, is not like
President
Nasser was too powerful at the beginning of the political unity with
As
mentioned in our Coptic references, Pope Kyrillos the sixth has enjoyed such a
very strong relationship with President Nasser...
Pope
Kyrillos the sixth was totally aware of President Nasser’s abilities...
He
was committed to the Holy Bible’s divine command which recommended to honor and
obey the rulers...
Obligated
by praying for the President in the churches...
The
President, Government, Ministries, and soldiers...
It
is well-known in the church as “The President’s Oration”...
He
successfully has been able to estimate the president...
He
had found the proper method in dealing with the country’s president...
And
as usual...
Pope
Kyrillos the sixth had politically supported President Nasser...
That
was really obvious when President Nasser has announced to step down in
Hence,
Pope Kyrillos the Sixth went in a company of a delegation of the Church Coptic
leaderships...
And
despites the isolation of President Nasser at these hard times, the only
vehicle that was allowed to enter was the car which belongs to the Coptic
delegation headed by Pope Kyrillos the sixth, as mentioned in our references...
Relations
were highly connected...
Strong...
Pope
Kyrillos never asked anything from President Nasser or claiming that there is a
shortage in churches...
Though
the new cathedral in “Abbasaya” was President Nasser’s suggestion...
Who
was saying just “to be done”...
President
Nasser has suggested changing the holy seat Cathedral’s location to a more
suitable place...
Pope
Kyrillos the sixth did not ask for ministries, governors, or professors
positions for the Copts...
Pope
Kyrillos the sixth has made renovation and update to the Orthodox Coptic church
before even he has gotten the chair to take the church religious leadership
with many years...
He
was enhancing the Coptic fresh graduates to enter the Monastic field.. the step
which is right before occupying the highest and most sensitive positions in the
holy assembly...
He
was objected by many religious chairmen...
Everyone who has resisted him never made it...
Pope
Kyrillos the sixth, who has a high school degree, observed the era of
enlightenment...
Encouraging
the high qualifications to join the monastic and priesthood fields...
And
a book titled “the great secret”, written by Pope Kyrillos the sixth, We read a
lot about Pope Kyrillos the sixth and his management for the church under the
headlines of “finding leaderships”, “ Updating the management and the church”.
True...
All
of this has occurred because Pope Kyrillos the sixth has seen it coming and
that the priesthood and the Monastic field are in need of these new minds...
What
Pope Kyrillos wanted, became the normal and automatic matter in our days...
The majority of members from the holy assembly are highly qualified and have bachelor's
degrees...
And
Pope Shenouda the third was the first Patriarch, who has a high qualification
in the history of the Coptic Church...
Now
you can easily find an Egyptian Bishop who preaches in the English language...
As
well as Pope Shenouda does it.
50
years ago, that was impossible...
Pope
Kyrillos succeeded in putting the Church on the right track to be compatible
with Modernity...
The
man has made his job...
It
was always his desire to find heads and shepherds that are modernized...
Spiritual
understanding fathers who acknowledge the modern era...
Capable
of managing and taking care of the Church with their regenerative mind...
And
developing the Egyptian Coptic people in a proper modern method...
And
not disobeying their governor...
Or
even antagonize him.
President
Nasser passed away in September 1970...
And
Pope Kyrillos the sixth departed our world in March 1971...
The
Inauguration of Pope Shenouda the third was in November 1971...
Hence,
we compare the situation of President Nasser during the appointment of
“Pope Kyrillos the sixth” and the situation of President Sadat during the
appointment of “Pope Shenouda the third” as the father of Copts.
In
March 1971, the date of the death of “Pope Kyrillos”, the conflict between
President Sadat and the centers of authority were too great...
When
Sadat held the Presidency position, he was rejected by the public opinion, Not
because of his person but due to the criticizing question: “who would replace
the deceased President Nasser?!”...
Henry
Kissinger, the American former minister of foreign affairs and the well-known
politician has said that President Sadat would not last in governing Egypt
more than six weeks!...
The man appeared too weak...
Spindling...
Asthenic
and very weak...
In
November 1971, The Inauguration of Pope Shenouda the third was made as he was
the first high qualified and cultured patriarch for the Copts in the history of
the Coptic Church...
And
logically,
The president seemed so weak...
He allows his people to make campaigns to criticize and
destroy him...
No one has ever thought that all of these things are among a the strong strategy of delusion made in order to prepare for the immortal victory
of October...
The
fog year...
The
year of the determination...
All
these matters and a lot more changed the man’s dignity and solemnity...
It
was changed according to the existing actual powers that have the right to
criticize, think, analyze, discuss, say and decide...
As
well as the spiritual father of the Orthodox Coptic Church and the holy
Assembly...
And
no one would deny the right of the spiritual father of the Orthodox Coptic
Church’s right as an Egyptian citizen to make his own political opinion and
point of view...
The
issue which is not so familiar to the
And
within the natural political support that is given for the president by the
church...
Here,
we shall halt on the point of the political support...
Though
I speak about the period which is before the immortal victory of October as it
formed the perspective of President Sadat in the mind of Pope Shenouda the
third...
I
guess that the
Either
to offer the full political support for the country’s governor as the
traditional typical logic which the bible provoked us to do...
Or
not to offer the full political support for the country’s governor and stand
watching and monitoring the situation...
But,
The
Church shall not resist the governor of the country...
Or
even declare its refusal for its politics and decisions in governing its affairs...
As
it has happened in the refusal of Pope Shenouda for “
Let’s
not go so far...
I
think that the Church could not correctly estimate President Sadat...
The
incorrect evaluation, not realizing the governor’s targets as well the atrocious
pressures, on the political or economic levels and the land’s occupation...
The
no awareness of the fact that he is not totally controlling everything alone in
the first era of governing...
As
well, his need for each hand to offer him the appropriate support...
Unfortunately,
these facts of no awareness lasted even after the immortal victory of October...
After
As
well...
Its
life...
Nobody
has ever offered him any support...
Many
people have attributed the victory to the defeated deceased leader...
No
one out of the political powers or the nation’s categories has ever offered obvious political support for him...
Even
the category of the Orthodox Copts...
Their
leadership didn’t offer the spiritually supposed support for their governor...
The
victory of October 1973 was not the end...
Most
of the land was occupied...
The
first disengagement...
And
secondly...
A
mental and nervous exhaustion...
The
Marketing of Egypt in a new modern technique...
The
construction of the canal’s cities...
The
re-inauguration of
Changing
the economic core from Socialism to capitalism...
Returning
the liberties and damaging the military prison...
Enhancing
the pulpits to return the political parties...
Horrible
incidents...
And
continuous pressures...
Wishing
it was halted by not offering political support...
As
soon as it was extended to something else...
This
was occurring for the first time in the Coptic Church...
The
existence of a new tone...
Such
a new attitude...
A
new discourse started with the desire of building new churches...
And
it reached to be under the title of the Copts rights...
These
matters were not among the agenda of the Church’s bishops in their meeting with
the Country’s governor...
The
governors were starting by offering so the head of the church continues...
The
state of demanding has lasted...
Insistence...
Calling...
Complaining...
Grumbling...
No
satisfying...
Estrangement...
And
the state of non-estimating the governor’s pressures, as well the international
acute accurate situation...
The
President was well prepared for the peace conference in
Then
he started in considering going to
We
want more churches...
We
have rights...
Listen
to the Copts’ inquiries...
Aren’t
they the same as the artists, workers, and Tribe of Ali’s Sons?!...
And
the man was looking after who supports him...
So
he took refuge with President Nasser’s enemies,...
Not
due to his love for them...
And
they didn’t support him due to their love back...
But
he wanted to find who offer him some support...
Who
respects him...
Hereafter,
we wonder about the part of the Church in this essential basic step that was
made by the man...
Most
importantly,
The
man went to
He
had prayed the feast prayer in the Al-Aqsa Mosque...
and
visited The Church of the Holy Sepulchre as regard to the Christians...
The
general public supported this visit...
Pope
Shenouda the third has sent a letter saying:
“Good
fortune for the peacemakers.” Matthew 5:9
Pope
Shenouda the third, the representative of the Orthodox Coptic Church, had
supported the visit of the Country’s President Sadat went to
The
man has rejoiced...
He
was cheered by the reactions of most of the political powers, Copts and those
who are seeking bloodshed...
The
saw a good omen in the matter...
And
continued...
Such
hard negotiations...
Tough...
Exhausting...
Violent
Arabic pressures...
Overbidding...
Bargains...
Requirements
lasted...
We
want churches!...
We
have rights...
The
treaty of peace was signed...
The
treaty was a natural and normal consequence for the visit...
And
what an astonishment!..
Pope
Shenouda the third has refused the treaty of
Hence
that refusal is perhaps considered the first unusual projection from the
typical political support which was presented by Copts for their Egyptian
governor in the modern era...
It
is not competent with the biblical situation of the Mass prayers...
Maybe,
the refusal was in conformity with the public refusal for this treaty...
While
it doesn’t justify the matter...
Though
the treaty stipulates delivering the
The
continuous stress...
A
race with time...
Since
the war of June 1967, the Christian pilgrims, all over the world, have stopped
going annually to “
After
Then
President Sadat started to ask Pope Shenouda the third to arrange some
pilgrimage groups back to “
Despites
Pope Shenouda the third answered with not allowing the Copts from going to “
And
also said:
“Copts
would not go to “
It
was such an offensive response to the Muslim President...
Embarrassing...
The truth is President Sadat wanted to prove his good intentions so as not to let “
And
Pope Shenouda the third has worried about his people because of the mighty
misunderstanding of the whole situation as the seekers for normalization of
relations...
“The
normalization”, that errant and deviating concept..
The
point is that...
The cards were completely mixed...
Ideas
were conflicting...
And
Results were contradicting...
It
came to my mind that I rewarded one of my friends a part of the acanthi plant...
Which
is featured by some attractive purple roses and this plant was from “
Though
it belongs to the same category of the famous kind of which the crown of thorns
was taken...
I
have looked at that tiny part and thought for a while..
As
we have always described the situation of preventing the Copts from going to “
We
always say it that way...
Going...
Just
going...
The
essence of the matter is not about going..
It
is not a leisure journey...
Not
a political one...
Not
a business trip or trading deal...
The
point is:
Preventing
the Copts from the pilgrimage in “
And
follows that from the religious rituals, devotion, and obtaining the pains of
the glorified Jesus Christ…
Not
to mention that adding the line of going to “
Hence,
it made the country’s Muslims and Copts in an adversary station against the
President...
And
the congestion reached its peak between the Copts and the President...
The
country’s governor...
President
Sadat...
Who
was trying to return “Al-Sultan Monastery” back to the Coptic Church...
Yes...
That
is his name...
“Al-Sultan
Monastery”...
Maybe,
some the Coptic young men would be astonished by the concept of “El Sultan
Monastery” as there isn’t a saint who is called “Sultan”...
“El
Sultan” is Salah Al Din Al Ayoubi...
Who
fought against the Europeanize for liberating “
The
Crusaders...
One
of Salah El Din’s leaders was a Christian leader from Syria Called “Essa Al
Awaam”...
Just
like the leader “Fouad Ghaly” from the Egyptian Military leadership of October
1973…
Salah
Al-Din Al AyoUbi has advocated...
So
he wanted to reward the Copts who supported him a region of “
A
region can be used as a rest house for the Copts who go pilgrimage to “
While
no one has ever gone since the re-inauguration of the
One
of my friends has once told me, commenting on the Israeli occupation of the
monastery and giving it to the Abyssinian monks..
“Because
there is no man.”...
He
said it is a crucial language...
What
he meant was so clear...
Then
El Sultan monastery was gone...
As
well, the ancestors’ blood...
The
patriotic...
He
didn’t expect the Pope’s worries on his people even more than God’s care on
them...
And
let’s feature another scenario of the events...
Let’s
assume that the country’s president is a man of respect and dignity...
And
that the Copts’ Pope is offering the political support for the president...
The
relations were so reasonable...
The
Pope wanted the balance concerning the President’s desire in returning Sinai
back...
In
a manner which is politically rejected by many Muslims and Copts...
And
the Pope’s concerns on his people...
With
my cautiousness to the exaggeration in these concerns, especially because the
Coptic person lives within the pain concept...
Herein,
the Pope proposed a suggestion to the President...
To
arrange an official delegation, consists of ten delegates...
Bishops,
priests, monks, and two delegates from the religious committee...
Then
the delegation went...
Under
an excessive media plan to raise the consciousness to the concept and definition
of Pilgrimage for the Copts...
And
the difference between the pilgrimage...
And
the normalization...
All
the matter is about an official delegation...
Not
popular...
Hence,
we are watching the situation...
Let’s
conclude all the possibilities...
If
the Coptic delegation has encountered in particular any assault by the
Palestinians while they were walking among the pilgrims just like what happened
with the deceased writer “Youssef Al Sebaay” in
And
if the delegation has encountered any assault by the Israelis, President Sadat
could have repeated his request of protection under the witness of
Though
when the Copts encounter any problem with their homeland citizens, public
opinion would be raised in addition to follow the traditional protocols in such
situations...
With accepting the culture of pain...
And
after years, the Copts’ pilgrimage becomes an actual reality...
Nothing
to do with politics...
Instead
of the current situation that is characterized by the Copts’ suffering of a
defaced identity...
Man
lives with five senses...
Recognizes
life and everything with his five senses...
Copts
have gone too far from the personality of the glorified Jesus Christ...
While
gone closer to the saints...
That
is due to satisfy their senses with the remains, the procession, and the sensible
heritage of the saints...
Unfortunately,
the modern Coptic mind has reached the pace of worshiping the saints...
This
is what I clearly call “the state of worshiping the saints”...
Not
to mention, the duality between the concept of the Coptic acceptance of pain
and injustice for just being a Copt, which is the traditional heritage and the
right essence...
And
what we hear from concepts of liberalism, globalization, and citizenship rights...
And
the other rejected things that are asked by the immigrant Copts organizations...
As
for politics, this matter sounds logical...
As
for Christianity, the continuous demands of positions and rights really upset
me...
The
genuine Copt accepts pains and injustice just for being a Copt...
Not
to be sad because of pains or destitution...
Unless
he considers it as pride and joy...
The modern Coptic mind has gone too far from the biblical approach...
That’s
what I think...
Really...
May
Allah has mercy on the soul of the heroic Martyr!..
Even
us, the Copts have resisted him...
In
a situation which I don’t remember, it has ever repeated by the Copts towards
the country’s governor, despite we don’t even have the guts to admit that the
man was completely right in the issues of the Copts’ pilgrimage and El Sultan
monastery...
My
apologies for the length...
Differences
in opinions don’t corrupt the case’s affinity...
Assuring
on my respect and appreciation for everybody...
As
well as my full obedience and compliance for my beloved Church...
My everlasting Church...
