http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2012/1090/eg20.htm
22 - 28 March 2012
Issue No. 1090
Egypt
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875
Hail the Holy Synod
As head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, circumstances ensured that Pope Shenouda
III was both a religious leader and a politician to his fingertips. His passing
marks a watershed in Christian-Muslim relations, writes Gamal Nkrumah
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
death of Pope Shenouda III presents a three-headed hydra of expressions of a
heightened state of political uncertainty. As news came in on Saturday of the
Pope's passing, it became paramount to understand how the new post-25 January
Revolution political system was evolving.
Click to view caption
Pope Shenouda III; Nazir Gayed as an adolescent; as a child with his
father and brother; Pope Shenouda III with Roman Catholic Pope John Paul II;
with the late Sheikh Tantawi of Al-Azhar; in Wadi Al-Natroun's Monastery of
Saint Bishoi; with Sadat and Mubarak
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First, with the rise of political Islam paranoid mumbo-jumbo -- real or
imagined -- was aggravated, exaggerated and magnified. Moreover, the triumph of
various strands of Islamisms, and in particular the Muslim Brotherhood --
grouped in the Freedom and Justice Party, the primary political grouping in the
People's Assembly -- and the various Salafist groups under the umbrella of Nour
Party in the parliamentary elections, the disquietude of Coptic Christians was
intensified.
Second, the realisation that a generation gap became clear within the Coptic
Christian community itself with the emergence of a secularist trend among the
younger members of Egypt's Christian congregations. The so-called Maspero
Movement and the Coptic youth in general tended to be rather critical of the
role of the Church in general and especially the alleged close association of
the late Pope Shenouda III with the regime of ex-president Hosni Mubarak.
Last but not least, the sharpening ascendancy of the Coptic Christian émigrés
particularly those in the United States signalled that they were destined to
play a more dominant role in Church affairs. A fracas with the Holy Synod
became inevitable.
For some, the full nauseous panoply of political options open to Coptic
Christians culminated in Pope Shenouda III's passing. Many Christians propelled
by a sense of foreboding and impending danger, which cannot be easily
discounted precisely because it is derived from the fear that the 25 January
Revolution that many Coptic Christians fully participated in was carrying
political Islam to its logical extreme. Christians, it is feared in some
quarters, would be especially sidelined and perhaps even persecuted.
The greatest concern of many Coptic Christians is that their citizenship rights
would be eroded. "Egypt is a nation that lives within us and not a nation we
live in," was one of Pope Shenouda III's more popular political statements. He
encouraged the Coptic Christian community's right to full participation in the
political life of the country. It is his patriotism that prompted eulogies to
pour in from Muslim religious leaders who appreciated the late Patriarch's
political positions and his behind-the-scenes conciliatory politicking.
"Egypt has lost one of its rare men at a sensitive moment when it most needs
the wisest of its wise -- his expertise and purity of mind," Grand Imam of
Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayeb mourned the passing of the pope.
The Grand Mufti of Egypt Sheikh Ali Gomaa, too, extolled the merits of the late
Patriarch. Gomaa described the death of Pope Shenouda III as a "terrible
tragedy and a big blow to the people of Egypt".
Chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Freedom and Justice Party Mohamed
Mursi applauded Pope Shenouda III's "long journey of big contributions in
various fields domestically and abroad".
The purveyors of hate begged to differ. Militant preacher Sheikh Wagdi Ghoneim
embarked on an odious tirade against the late Patriarch. "Let us celebrate the
demise of the head of the infidels," he declared on YouTube, to which
incitement some viewers responded by calling for the introduction of hate-crime
laws in Egypt.
Pope Shenouda, it should be remembered, regarded the ravings of such zealots as
a distortion of Islam, a dressing of terrorism in religious trappings rather
than the representative of anything enduring in Islamic thought.
Pope Shenouda III encouraged the participation of Coptic laypersons' civil
society organisations to participate fully in the evolving political process in
post-25 January Revolution. He was careful, however, not to encourage Coptic
Christians to form separatist political parties based along religious grounds.
Shenouda's papacy boosted the prestige of the Coptic Orthodox Church
enormously. It brought renewed interest in Coptic learning, and saw a major
expansion in monasticism. He ascended the throne of St Mark at a time when
Egypt was suffering the effects of a series of debilitating wars, the 1956 Suez
Crisis, the June 1967 Arab- Israeli War and the 1973 October War. The seemingly
interminable series of setbacks Pope Shenouda faced at the outset of his papacy
appeared almost inexplicable. They continued on and on, decade after decade.
Sectarian conflict erupted in many parts of the country. Shenouda III's
favoured method of voicing his protest at such events was to retreat in silence
to the desert monasteries of Wadi Al-Natroun, from where he had sat out his
most famous quarrel, with president Anwar El-Sadat, who had sought to replace
Shenouda with a Coptic figure more sympathetic to his Camp David's Accords
cause, especially after the 1979 Peace Treaty with Israel.
Following the death of the Pope the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces
(SCAF) released a statement praising the late Patriarch for "preserving the
unity of Egypt and the unity of its social fabric".
Politicians and statesmen lined up to praise the late Patriarch for his
patriotism. Former Arab League secretary-general and current presidential
contender Amr Moussa called Pope Shenouda III "a great man who worked for the
interests of the country". Moussa stressed that the late Patriarch was "working
for Egypt to present a unified front against the challenges facing the nation".
Former prime minister Ahmed Shafik concurred, noting that Pope Shenouda III was
a "unique religious leader and a distinguished character in the national
history".
Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzouri paid tribute and said: "I convey my sincere
condolences to our Coptic Christian brothers at home and abroad." Shenouda's
papacy saw the number of Coptic churches overseas multiply to the extent that
they far exceed the number of churches in Egypt itself.
"What's needed is an articulate Pope who can communicate in modern parlance and
who can deal with émigré Coptic communities in North America, Europe and
Australia," Coptic Christian MP Emad Gad told Al-Ahram Weekly.
The priority now, says Gad, is to foster a climate of friendliness and
fraternity between Copts and Muslims. Since the 25 January Revolution an
estimated 350,000 Copts have left Egypt for North America, Australia and other
parts of the world. The exodus will have negative repercussions on the Egyptian
economy, though remittances from overseas are an important source of income for
poorer Copts at home and a major foreign exchange earner for the country.
Pope Shenouda's weekly column in Al-Ahram and his writings in other newspapers
were a strong voice for national reconciliation. Christians and Muslims alike
heeded his voice of moderation. "Pope Shenouda III was an inspiration for
everyone, and especially for disadvantaged Coptic Christians," MP Gad
expounded.
The Church of the Khanka incident was a turning point in the modern history of
the Coptic Church. After decades of relative peaceful co- existence during the
Nasser era, sectarian conflict flared in the Delta village of Khanka in
November 1972.
While the propertied and elite class was busy making money under Sadat's "open
door" policy of economic liberalisation, more modest folk were busy making ends
meet. Unknown arsonists burnt down a chapel in the poverty-stricken village of
Khanka that led to a collective mass Christian protest and prompted a
parliamentary inquiry.
Sadat was moving Egypt to the right, politically, economically and religiously,
and Pope Shenouda refused to play along.
"He always kept his cool," Gad stressed. Meanwhile, similar incidents to Khanka
erupted in Upper Egypt especially in the vicinity of Assiut and Sammalout.
"Pope Shenouda III managed to contain the conflict with his characteristic
moderation. That was his strength."
"Pope Shenouda was a man of principles. He never spoke to me personally in his
capacity as head of the Coptic Church, but always as an Egyptian nationalist.
He was a keen Pan-Arabist and was dedicated to Arab nationalism which is why he
clashed with the late president Sadat," politician Mustafa El-Feki told the
Weekly.
"The 118th pope will be obliged to focus more on spiritual matters and less on
political affairs. Pope Shenouda III's papacy took place under exceptional
circumstances. It was a time of high tension, social and political and
sectarian strife," says Kamal Zakher, a Coptic Christian intellectual and
secular activist who supports the separation of religion and politics and
champions citizenship rights.
Successive popes have long tried to maintain a good working relationship with
Egyptian heads of state and government. Pope Cyril's friendship with the late
president Gamal Abdel-Nasser was proverbial, and indicative of the importance
of personal qualities to such relationships. Nasser had a soft spot for Cyril
after the latter supposedly healed Nasser in a miraculous supplication to God.
A grateful Nasser was ever after sympathetic to the Coptic Christian cause. A
similar relationship developed between Mubarak and Pope Shenouda III, though it
was not as affectionate as that between Nasser and Cyril.
The late Patriarch often harboured controversial political opinions but he
stuck to his guns. This is especially noticeable in his championing of the
Palestinian cause.
"They do not see any alternative but to blow themselves to pieces in the face
of an enemy that uses all the power at its disposal without mercy," Pope
Shenouda said in defence of Palestinian suicide bombers in one of his most
political statements.
The Kosheh massacre of January 2000, and before that in 1998 in the same
extremely poor village, incited hatred and sectarian violence further and the
aggrieved parties -- the Coptic Christians -- often took matters into their own
hands. Mob rule ensued and there was another occasion on which Pope Shenouda
III spoke his mind openly. He vehemently opposed the court ruling that he felt
compromised Coptic Christian rights.
"We want to challenge this ruling. We don't accept it," Pope Shenouda III
declared, fearing more carnage of which Kosheh would be just a portent.
Before his ordination Pope Shenouda III served in the Egyptian army, a fact
that earned him the respect of many Arab pundits. One such commentator,
Abdel-Bari Atwan, the editor-in-chief of the Pan-Arab daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi,
noted that Shenouda's death was "a loss for our Christian Coptic Brothers, for
Egypt and the entire Arab world".
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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