http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2009/963/eg7.htm
3 - 9 September 2009
Issue No. 963
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875
Coptic swan song
Speculation is rife on who succeed to the See of St Mark, reports Gamal Nkrumah
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Pope Shenouda III
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A nagging question bedevils Copts: What will happen to the Coptic Christian
community after Pope Shenouda III?
The Church has officially denied rumours that octogenarian Shenouda is
suffering from serious health problems, insisting that his trip this week to
the United States is for a routine medical check-up. Such statements,
predictably perhaps, arouse rather than quell suspicion.
Last week was rife with allegations that Anba Youanis, Shonouda's right hand
man, had expressed in personal diaries his ambition to succeed to the papacy.
The Pope nevertheless, allowed Youanis to accompany him to the US dispelling
any notion of foul play.
Mixed signals have crept into the much-hyped thaw in relations between the
Coptic Church and the Egyptian state since the incarceration of Pope Shenouda
III by late President Anwar El-Sadat in 1981. Relations between the Coptic
Church and the Egyptian state have periodically been clouded by Coptic anger
over the alleged mistreatment of Copts and charges that a couple of Coptic
women have been coerced into converting to Islam.
It is the question of the alleged conversion and forced marriage of Coptic
girls to Muslim men that elicits the greatest passions. In July alone three
separate incidents received much publicity in the press. Pharmaceuticals
student Rania Tawfik Asaad was ostensibly abducted in Giza and forced to marry
a Muslim. Two other cases, those of Marian Bishai, Amira Morgan and Injy Basta,
also hit the headlines. Pope Shenouda, aware of the sensitivity of the topic
and the strong feelings it provoked among Copts, issued a public statement on
the subject as long ago as 1976.
"There is pressure being exerted for Coptic girls to embrace Islam and be
married against their will to Muslim husbands," the Pope then lamented. He
reiterated the same frustration on television more recently. Yet despite such
statements many Copts feel the Pope remains too accommodating in placating the
powers that be. It is the oldest Coptic parlour game of all, and often the most
futile. Now many Copts are asking themselves whether Shenouda's successor will
be equally accommodating.
The Church is first in line of fire as far as irate Copts are concerned.
Critics contend that the past few decades have been characterised by policy
blunders and regulatory negligence as much as by mistakes by individual
clergymen and renegade priests.
As Copts create a new ethos, they must also redefine the role of the Coptic
Church. This is not the first time Copts have questioned the Church's mandate.
"We have set procedures for the election of a new pope based on ecclesiastical
and ritual considerations. They have nothing to do with politics," Coptic
Bishop of Helwan, Anba Basanti, told Al-Ahram Weekly. He added that it is not
appropriate to discuss succession while Pope Shenouda III is alive and well.
Critics have become ever more impatient with the Church's inertia.
"The Church must stick to ecclesiastical matters and not interfere in politics.
We, as Coptic laypersons, must struggle for greater participation in the
decision- making process," Coptic journalist and activist Karima Kamal told the
Weekly. "Far from being secular, the state increasingly poses as being
religious. It is against this backdrop that the Church is adopting an ever more
defensive posture. Now if the Church is unwilling or incapable of defending the
citizenship rights of Copts, then it should not dabble in politics."
Kamal says recent statements by Pope Shenouda on the question of succession to
the presidency were inappropriate. "Most Egyptians love Gamal Mubarak and they
will vote for him ahead of any other candidate running against him in elections
-- that is if they find anyone to run against him," Pope Shenouda, a staunch
supporter of Mubarak, was quoted as saying in the independent daily Al-Masry
Al-Yom. He also stated on ON TV that no person in Egypt was better qualified to
run for the presidency than Gamal Mubarak.
Prominent Coptic public figures beg to differ. Georgette Qellini, a
card-carrying, Coptic member of the NDP and presidential appointee to the
People's Assembly, warns that the Coptic Church has the right to tackle thorny
issues and that naturally its position on several questions courts controversy.
"Copts should be more sympathetic to the difficult situation the Church finds
itself in. They should try and understand the breadth, depth and complexity of
the problems the church is facing," explains Qellini.
Talk of Pope Shenouda III's ill-health has sparked speculation that a power
struggle will ensue following his death. Shenouda, the 117th Coptic Pope since
Mark the Evangelist, was enthroned as head of the Coptic Orthodox Church in
1971. A graduate of the Coptic Theological Seminary, he is highly respected in
Coptic circles. Shenouda, however, has his critics among the Coptic clergymen
and laypersons. One of the most contentious charges was that made by the
dissident clergyman Maximus, who accuses Shenouda of "throwing fuel on the fire
of sectarian violence in Egypt by inciting Copts to take up arms and retaliate
when attacked by Muslims". Shenouda has dismissed the allegation.
Others accuse the Coptic Pope of turning the Coptic Church into an appendage of
the ruling National Democratic Party.
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