A dirty article by Mamdouh Mahran, chief editor
of the
weekly al-Nabaa, in which he defamed a former Coptic monk, by claiming that he practiced prostitution inside
the church, lit an intense fire in the weak national unity body causing very angry protests from
Copts.
Abominable claims:
Mamdouh Mahran filled the front page of his weekly
Al-Nabaa
with libertine, sexy, photos taken from a video film in which someone alleged to be a monk
appeared sleeping with a
woman. He claimed that this film was taken inside the church, and put abominable
comments on the alleged monk’s
sexual behavior underneath the pictures.
In the hot article
titled "al Moharraq monastery has been
transformed into a brothel by a monk" the author wrote no less
provocative subtitles "clear pictures of the first
pornographic film by a monk inside a church," and
"Church authorities knew the monk had transgressed and did no
more than moving him to
Sohag."
"The Monk stole four kilos of gold in one of his exciting adventures
and offered one
kilo to the abbot of the monastery in order to cover his transgressions" the weekly
claimed.
Mahran accused the alleged monk of "having sex with whatever females fell into his
hands,
including children. He hunted young premature teenagers, and used to spend his spare time
stimulating himself, in
front of a picture of his beloved, inside the Virgin monastery" and other dirty
things.
According to
the weekly "the monk accused the abbot of competing with him for a
lady’s heart."
The author
claimed that the alleged monk "employed demons to trap a
respectable lady and he filmed her naked during full
sexual intercourse, and that he had sex with 5,000
women behind the church’s altar."
"Seeking
blessings and the granting of prayers for having
a baby women constantly went to the monk who abused this trust and
made love with them. And when they had
babies he became more famous and got more clients" wrote Mahran who listed
the different "tricks used by
the monk to deceive victims and their husbands."
The author pointed
out that the monk had
been brought to trail following his treatment of one of his victims. When he "threatened her
with the film
which he took in his cell, in which she appeared naked, then she decided to notify the police and
opened
the file of transgressions in the church."
He accused the monk of "planting sedition in
Assiut and disrespecting Christianity" and claimed that the "aim of this article was to bring all the
clergy’s
attention to the matter in order to clean up the church and protect its sanctity", and to warn
every family about
such wolves."
He called for "every Christian to be liable and protect the
church and the
society."
Angry protests:
One weekly published that thousands
of angry Christians
demonstrated in Assiut and more than four thousand in the main cathedral in Cairo,
calling for a suitable
punishment. The protests became stronger when Mahran was released on
bail.
"With soul and blood we
save the cross", "we would never forget al-Kosheh and Sanabu
incidents," " it is time to talk now Pope Shenouda"
were the slogans of the angry people according to
eyewitnesses and Arabic satellite channels
reports.
Pope’s call to calm
down
Akher Khabar [the daily edition of al-Nabaa]
published pratically the same story as in
al-Nabaa with the same photos and wrote that Pope Shenouda "called for
Christians to calm down, and
revealed that he had contacted the authorities in order to guarantee that this
wouldn’t happen
again."
Bishop Yo’annis said there was no justification for such anger as the
state had
taken positive steps to calm things down, wrote the paper.
Fathi Serour the speaker of the
Egyptian parliament "condemned the al-Nabaa article, he stressed that the weekly has been banned and that
the issue
had been referred to the judiciary" meanwhile he refused to "discuss the problem inside
parliament and prevented
deputies from presenting urgent inquiries."
The
Statement:
The daily published a
statement from the Coptic Church and the Majlis al-
Milli.
"a yellow paper published a very
provocative article that affects Christian values,
and planted sedition, so that some people reacted violently; The
article dealt with the transgressions of
Adel Sa`ad Alaa’ Ghobrial, called [previously known as] Monk Barsoum al-
Moharaqi, who acted against Church
traditions and monastic rules, before the Church divested him of his order in
1996 and expelled him from
the monastery" said the statement.
The authors of the statement believe
that "What the paper
published provoked Copts and disrespected their sanctities. It was also presented in a
disgusting way to
everyone of other religions. This man doesn’t belong to the church, he is a transgressor who is
still
using monk’s clothing, which he is not entitled to do."
The statement stressed that "the
paper published daring claims that come under the category of public blasphemy against the most important
Christian
sanctity and we are going to file a case against the paper and the editor."
The
church furthermore
called for "intellectuals and officials to resist such harm to our sanctities and
national security, and prevent
playing with fire; we also wonder how could such subjects be
published."
The daily listed
international media’s "interest" in the issue and other
different reactions.
Agence France de
Presse reported angry manifestations in Assiut and
Cairo, with six policemen injured; Masrawy site on the internet
pointed out that the State Security
Prosecutor put the monk in custody for 15 days and held a hearing session with
the woman who filed the
case, and another hearing with Mahran" reported Akher Khabar, which was also confiscated
for the same
reason.
"Jazeera Satellite Channel, Reuters News Agency and al-Hayat newspaper also
reported
the event, while the Middle East News Agency focused on Bishop Yo’annis’ comment that the angry reaction
was unjustified especially given the positive attitude of the state towards this situation" said the
daily.
The daily called the report published on the US Coptic website "serious" and claimed
that the
site "is full of false and fabricated news and enough lies to start a civil war not only sectarian
sedition."
According to the daily "the Coptic deputy Rami Lakah promised to raise the case
in
parliament and the Interior minister stressed not using violence against demonstrators"
For his part
"Pope
Shenouda calmed the demonstrators down and called for their serenity. He promised to file a case
against the paper
and the writer, pointing out that he had already contacted officials and been given
promises" reported Akher
Khabar.
Official reaction:
At a press conference,
Mustafa Kamal Helmi head of the
Supreme Press Council, condemned the article which didn’t comply with the
Press Honor Charter, and is considered a
clear violation of public moralities."
"The
council decided to refer the case to the general
prosecution, and the press committee, in order to take
stiff measures to prevent similar behavior in the future "
said the paper.
The daily
moreover mentioned the statement of the Journalist’s Association, which
condemned the article and
considered Mahran wholly responsible for this gross fault.
"The
association’s council
unanimously decided to condemn the article considering it an irresponsible attempt to defame
the Christian
Church, and to interrogate Mahran over this article" wrote the paper.
"The Association
decided to deprive Mahran of the right to take part in any of the Association’s activities until an
investigation
was completed" said the paper.
The banning of the paper and investigation of
Mahran were published
on the first page of al-Akhbar, al-Ahram, al-Gomhuria, al-Usboa, al-Aḥrār, and al-
Wafd.
In the
meantime details of the statement and demonstrations occupied large spaces in
the national press with increasing
editorials calling for calm and stressing national unity.
