Egyptian authorities strongly urged the Coptic
Church to take part in the “national dialogue” which President Mohammed
Mursi called for last Saturday. But the Coptic Pope Tawadros II declined the invitation, replying that the Church sees itself as a religious institution whose role it is to pray for Egypt. He added that political dialogue is up to parties and public officials.
This exclusive piece of news about the ongoing clashes in Cairo was published on wataninet.com, the main website for information of Egypt’s Copts. It explained that there is great consensus among Egyptian Christians with regard to the Patriarch’s stance.
Mursi’s insistence in trying to persuade Tawadros to support the dialogue initiative does not come as a surprise: Saturday’s dialogue was boycotted by the country’s main opposition forces and the president was desperately searching for prominent figures outside the Muslim world.
The meeting ended with the president taking a few steps back: he withdrew the decree in which he awarded himself extraordinary powers however he also confirmed he would be going ahead with Saturday’s referendum on the new constitution, which has been contested by minorities and most of civil society.
Even since his election, Tawadros II had made it clear he wished to keep Church life separate from politics. In recent days he has been communicating exclusively via his Twitter account, posting random quotes from the Book of Proverbs.
“When there are many words, sin is unavoidable, but the one who controls his lips is wise” (Pr. 10:19). “In each word, slogan and prayer, there needs to be honesty,” he wrote this morning.
Beyond people’s convictions on the relationship between Church and politics, this kind of attitude has a lot to do with the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood is focusing a great deal on denominational divisions.
The presence of Coptic parties and associations among Mursi’s opponents in Egypt’s streets, is transformed into “a conspiracy instigated by the Church.”
The other evening on Mir25 - the Islamist movement’s television channel – the presenter openly claimed that “50-60% of demonstrators are Christians who have committed acts of violence.”
The presenter’s accusation and the figures quoted are completely false and naturally Copts immediately interpreted it as a threat.