Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

Al-Wafd met with two Orthodox bishops, Bishop Lukas of Abānūb and Bishop Dāwūd of Dakahlia, who talked about family and the Church, as well as current temptations of the world. Bishop Lukas points out that the problem of spinsterhood resulted from difficult economic conditions and calls on families not to burden young men who pursue marriage with unreasonable requests. He believes that Christian families cannot keep away from modern technological means, but the Church’s role is to encourage Christian families to deal appropriately with these means. Bishop Dāwūd believes that a small, good family is the seed for a good society. Concerning the danger of drug addiction, Bishop Lukas stresses that the Church’s role must be to raise awareness of such a danger, especially among the youth. The Church encourages parents to control their children and establish dialogue with them. Bishop Dāwūd points out that Orthodoxy is the original and believes that some denominations have given up spirituality to focus only on entertainment and social activities. Bishop Lukas refers to the government efforts to develop Upper Egypt, particularly after a number of terrorist events over the last few years, and the Church’s similar role in such a development. He refers to the patriotism of the Orthodox Church. He states that Muslim-Christian relations cannot be affected by individual incidents and believes that the unified law of building houses of worship will greatly relieve much of this tension.