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Egyptian Intellectuals: Church of great importance to country not exclusive to particular sect.

Coptic intellectuals warned that the Egyptian church may be transformed from being a church of God into a church belonging to a very closed-minded Christian sect. He called for the initiating of open and social "Dialogue for the Future" on two levels.

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Coptic intellectuals warned that the Egyptian church may be transformed from being a church of God into a church belonging to  a very closed-minded Christian sect. He called for the initiating of open and social "Dialogue for the Future" on two levels. Firstly a national dialogue aimed to "establish rules and regulations governing the operation of involving the religious entities in the political public arena consistent with Egypt’s heritage and recent political developments and secondly internal dialogue within the church which will "take into account the awareness of the contemporary managerial requirements".

This initiative was presented in a document entitled "Egypt’s National Church… a vision for the future" which was launched by the commission of “Citizens in One Nation", an Egyptian group defining themselves as "a cultural civil group trying to advocate and promote the adoption of constructive national dialogue as the only way to break the tension which has continued for decades.”

Structural crisis

The manuscript which IslamOnline.net obtained a copy of specifies   that" the tragic incidents involving the  national church weeks earlier  indicates that there was a conspiracy and a deep desire to usurp  the power of the Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria although Father  Shenouda III is still alive and well. It must not be considered solely an internal matter since its negative effects had exceeded the limits of the religious entity leaking into the political public sphere.

The document attributed the shameful imbalance that has afflicted the Egyptian Church which has led to rivalries on the succession of Father Shenouda. Explanations include Egypt’s structural transformation since the 23rd July Revolution, and also the seventies of the last century, which have affected the internal relationship between religious entities.

 

 The document reports that traditional roles formed Egypt as a Civilian State. This was an attempt to "adjust the balance and distribution of roles among the civil and religious elites between both the Muslim and Christian sects, as a policy of reconciliation and religious liberty.

 The changes started during the July Revolution and continued through the 70's and to this present day represented a transform of civil traditions. The change was used as a scapegoat by the state to justify much of the poor economic and political choices which led to political conflicts rather than be given their due with regards to valuable reference.

 

The participation of religious figures enhanced the dilemma and caused public debate clearly evident in subsequent years and as a result the state abandoned some of the vital roles as well as the rise of the ideologies of Political Islam which has become the most effective player in the face of the political system. This, in turn, led to increasing involvement of the Church in the political activities, according to the text of the document.

 

 

This phenomenon has produced a range of negative consequences, summarized by the signatories to the document as follows: --

1 – A desperate attempt to involve the religious and civil elite in the public domain of the state which, in turn, led to an imbalance of roles.

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2 –The religious entities' absence from the national consensus deepened the political differences.

3 – Confusion in the balance between civil and religious elites resulting in the predominance of religious entities over the secular body.

 

In conclusion the document asserts that the “piousness" which effects the public domain where the religious entities are concerned  as a party in the controversial issues of  world politics and  the absence of the historical civilian bloc in  Egypt as a  liberal civil state  has rebounded negatively on the internal dynamics of religious entities, "including the Egyptian church.

"Dialogue for the Future"

 

 

 

 Prominent thinkers and intellectuals signed the document including George Isaac- Mounir Ayad - Nabil Ayyad - Hannah Grace - Samir Morcos.

This is the third document issued by the group, where the first was published in 2007 titled "Citizenship to all Egyptians" and the second under the title "Renewing citizenship and integration" which was published in 2008