The Coptic Orthodox community in Egypt has a new spiritual
leader, Pope Tawadrous II, who has promised to work for greater
integration with the ruling Muslim majority. Bishop Tawadrous, aged
60, was one of three Coptic leaders to be chosen in elections last
week. On Sunday, in line with tradition, a blindfolded child
selected one of three pieces of paper to choose the ultimate
winner.
Pope Tawadrous, who graduated in pharmacy and worked for a time
in the pharmaceutical industry, was ordained as a monk in 1988
before becoming a priest. Ten years later he became a bishop. He
has written 12 books of theology.
After his appointment, Pope Tawadrous said that he wanted the
Coptic Church to concentrate on spiritual work and on
reorganisation in a way that would enable younger people to play a
greater part. He has indicated in the past his commitment to
ensuring that Copts remain part of Egyptian society as a whole
rather than being an isolated minority group. In a recent interview
with Coptic television, he said that "moderate, constructive
integration" was essential. "We must concentrate on what will bring
Egypt's children together, not on what will drive them apart."
He said that, in the wake of the revolution that ousted
President Hosni Mubarak, "we must listen to the young
generation's point of view and hold mature discussions with
them."
But the new Pope will face the task of how to respond to younger
Copts who reject the Church's traditional policy of keeping a low
profile and refraining from open political activity. Pope Shenouda,
despite his charismatic personality, frowned on those members of
his community who sought political platforms to demand an end to
discrimination against Copts. In the wake of recent attacks on
Coptic targets, there have been calls for the creation of political
parties specifically to defend Christians' rights.
Pope Tawadrous will also have the difficult task of trying to
steady the nerves of the eight million or so Copts in Egypt, most
of whom feel uneasy at the recent turn of political events there.
While Christians stood side-by-side with Muslims in the revolution
that toppled President Mubarak, the country has since experienced
division, with Islamists on one side and secularists and Christians
on the other. As Makram Muhammad Ahmad,
an al-Ahram columnist, wrote earlier this week, Egypt is
experiencing "a sharp state of polarisation dividing the society
into advocates of a religious versus a civil state and the absence
of healthy dialogue on outstanding issues".
The Christians' concern have been exacerbated both by the
electoral success of the Muslim Brotherhood and the increasing
assertiveness of Salafists. President Muhammed Morsi and other
Brotherhood leaders have assured Christians that their rights will
be respected, but acts of violence against Coptic targets have
continued, and there has been a rise in the number of cases of
women without their heads covered receiving verbal abuse on the
streets. Many Copts believe the Islamists' long-term agenda is to
see Egypt become an Islamic state in which non-Muslims will be, at
best, second-class citizens. Under these circumstances there is
little hope of Copts seeing their demands - including the right to
build new churches - being met.
Although Copts continue to complain of discrimination, the
Islamist-dominated government has taken at least one step to ease
sectarian tension: it is allowing quotes from the Bible to be
included with those from the Qur'an in secondary school curriculum,
provided that the former do not contradict Islamic
principles. The Copts will also take some comfort from the
fact that Egypt's state-run Nile TV beamed live broadcasts of last
Monday's preliminary voting for the new Pope. By contrast, the
Muslim Brotherhood's Misr 25 TV mentioned the ballot only in
passing.