Relations between Christianity in the West and the Arab world

In the early 1960s during the tenure of late Pope Kyrillos VI, Coptic Orthodox Christians had only seven churches abroad – two in each of the United States, Canada and Australia and only in Britain (1).

Egypt, the Arab world and the international community will pay last respects on Tuesday (March 20) to Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenouda III, who died at the age of 89 on Saturday (March 17), after a celebrated life of achievements in the service of the nation. [Ashraf Sādiq, al-Ahrām, March 19, p. 1] Read original text in Arabic

A fact-finding commission sent by the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) to investigate the sectarian unrest in the troubled district of al-'Āmrīyah, Alexandria, revealed that the Christian families forced to leave their homes and property after clashes over a purported love affair between a Muslim woman and a Christian man are now residing in Muslims' houses in the area of al-Huwayjī. [Nādyah Mutāwa' and 'Abd al-Wahāb Sha'bān, al-Wafd, Feb. 15, p. 1] Read original text in Arabic

Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenouda III led the Eastern Orthodox Christmas Mass at the Saint Mark Cathedral in the Cairo district of al-'Abbāssīyah, attended by members of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP).

For the first time, the General Coptic Organization in Egypt publish an advertisement in Watanī to recommend candidates for the coming parliamentary elections in the first phase.

[Reviewer's Note: these candidates represent the opinion of the organization and not the church.]

An Egyptian Coptic delegation flew to Lebanon on November 14 to attend the first conference organized by the European Union (EU) to discuss the conditions of Christians in the Middle East region.

The Coptic Church rejected the demands raised by some U.S. think tanks for an alternative homeland for Copts. A large number of bishops and priests stressed the necessity of confronting such demands which fuel sectarian tension in Egypt and the Middle East.

Five thousand expatriate Copts protested in front of UNESCO in Paris condemning Maspero incidents and chanting slogans against the Egyptian Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and the Egyptian government.

This article has no link online.

Maspero Youth coalition divided over whether Maspero incidents should be internationalized or not.

On the other hand, hundred of Copts in Austria protested off Hofburg Palace, where the Austrian President reside, and the Austrian Federal Chancellery, residence of Chancellor of Austria, and Austrian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and ended off the Catholic Cathedral in Vienna. A lot of Christian denominitions joined the protest.

[Reviewer's Note:New story was also mentioned in al-Wafd, page 1, October 23, 3011 and has no link online.]

Read original text in Arabic

Egyptian churches along with the Evangelical denomination in Egypt refused the European Parliament (EP)'s "Joint Motion for Resolution" document that condemns Egypt. The Motion said that Copts are being persecuted in Egypt. On the other hand, the Coptic Catholic Church refused to comment.

A Coptic Orthodox Church source refused the motion and asserted that Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenouda III is against any foreign interference in Egypt's internal affairs.

Read the "Joint Motion for Resolution" original text on AWR.

Read original text in Arabic