Old Cairo (Miṣr al-Qadīmah) / Cairo

The author refuted what V.S. Naipaul said about Islam being a disaster for Asia as it wiped out all the public cultures of the countries it conquered. He gave Egypt and Spain as examples of the fact that Islam did not wipe out the cultures of the countries it conquered but interacted with them. He concluded that it was true that Naipaul had compiled many great literary works. Still, his racist attitude towards Islam should have made the Swedish Academy reconsider awarding him the Nobel Prize, especially in view of the attacks in America and their consequences.

Dīnā Wādī reports on the historical importance of the Hanging Church as well as its architectural design. She believes that the church represents one of the most important Christian historical monuments in Cairo.

A project for a huge Egyptian production of a film about the life of Jesus Christ has triggered outcries from the Coptic Orthodox Church.

The article is an interview with a Copt who calls himself Pope Habeel II, claiming that he is the patriarch of a new orthodox denomination called the sons of St. Paul the Apostle. Habeel is accused of dissenting from the Church, rebelling against Pope Shenouda and provoking sectarian strife. He is also accused of being the chief of Satan worshippers.

The article is an interview with Ibrahim Fahmi Helal, the leader of the Coptic Nation Party [Umma al-Qibtiya], a right wing group that was established during the time of Pope Yousab. The group wanted the Coptic people to speak the ancient Coptic language and to cancel the constitutional articles that stipulate an official religion of the state and that the president should be Muslim. Members of the group deposed pope Yousab in an armed operation. He gives more details about the party and this incident.

The author expresses surprise at the fact that priests and bishops in some Orthodox Churches replace pictures of Jesus Christ crucified with nails in the palm of his hands with pictures showing nails in his wrists.

The Egyptian Administrative Court postponed a hearing in the lawsuit filed by a Coptic attorney, demanding the redemption of the Egyptian Deir Al-Sultan in eastern Jerusalem and handing it over to the Coptic Orthodox Church, to a court session on May 5.

The public relations manager of the Coptic Adventist Denomination in Egypt and three Orthodox fathers sent letters to Rose El-Youssef commenting on its articles on the Adventist Church.

"My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves" [The Bible, KJV, The Book of Mark, Chapter 11, Verse 17]. The words uttered by Jesus when he entered the Temple of Solomon, are pertinent over 2,000 years later, as hooligans intimidate visitors to a holy cave in Old Cairo.

Coptic heritage in Old Cairo area was the main theme of the 2nd conference on Coptic culture, held at the Mar Mina Monastery on October 10-12 and organized by the Lovers of Coptic Heritage Society (LCHS) in tandem with the monastery.