The Copts of Maghagha and Adawa collect 170,000 signatures

By:
Nader Shukry

Thousands of the Copts of Maghagha and al-Adawa in Minya, Upper Egypt, staged a sit-in at the bishopric grounds in Maghagha last Monday to protest what they saw as unjust, humiliating treatment at the hands of Minya governor Ahmed Diaa’ Eddin. Heading the protest was Anba Aghathon, Bishop of Maghagha and Adawa, and the parish clergy. The sit-in came in the wake of the refusal of Diaa’ Eddin to approve the building of a new bishopric church after the Copts had pulled down the old, dilapidated one last March, which was the pre-condition the governor had placed in order for him to license a new one. Once the old building was demolished, he had pledged in writing, a permit would be issued for a new one. The Copts pulled down the old church and, for some four months now, the congregation has been worshipping in a makeshift marquee instead.

Pretext for Procrastination

The number of the demonstrators reached some 10,000, which prompted Anba Aghathon to send out a call that no more demonstrators should join the sit-in, since they were already crowding the bishopric grounds and he was wary of their spilling over into the streets. This, he said, would carry risks of skirmishes with the security forces who had by then surrounded the site; a move that might lead to violence.

The demonstrators chanted slogans calling for the intervention of President Mubarak to resolve the problem, and denouncing the governor’s injustice and broken word. “We demand no more than our legitimate Constitutional rights,” Anba Aghathon said.

The congregation of Maghagha and Adawa gathered 165,000 signatures demanding their right to a new church in place of the old one. Usama Mansour, the legal consultant to Anba Aghathon, told Watani that the bishopric had demolished the old church, leaving only the toilets and the bishop’s residence, after obtaining the governor’s permission for that. A part of the fencing wall was demolished according to prior agreement with the governor as included in the preconditions for the new building permit. Some 90 days passed, however, with no building permit in sight. The governor had not kept his word and the land was open to trespassers, so the bishopric rebuilt the demolished part of the wall. “Now,” Mr Mansour told Watani, “General Diaa’ Eddin is using this as a pretext to withhold the building permit for the new church, claiming the bishop’s residence, the toilets, and the wall should be pulled down before a permit is issued.” The governor had refused to grant the permit for a new building while the old one remained, claiming he did not trust the Copts to later demolish the old church, and would never allow two adjacent churches. Now that the old church is no longer there, what is the point in squabbling over petty details? It is unthinkable that there should be no toilets to serve the congregation, which still worships under the marquee. There was a prior agreement with the governor that the bishop’s residence—a 40-square-metre wide building that should also be pulled down because of its deteriorated condition—should remain until a new one is built. As to the wall, it should be used to fence the land against trespassers anyway.

Endowment

The talk show al-Ashira Massa’an (Ten PM) on the independent Dream satellite channel hosted General Diaa’ Eddin to talk on the issue last Monday. He said that the toilets and bishop’s residence ought to be removed prior to approving a permit for the new building, and the part of the wall which carries the crosses should be removed since he required the land to be handed over to Minya governorate and it should carry no religious symbols. To this Anba Aghathon replied that it was impossible to hand over the land since it was an official endowment to the Coptic Church. This legally precludes the sale of the land or its exploitation by any other user. “We intend to build a hospital on that land,” the bishop said. And as to the “no religious symbols” condition, how could that be when the land in its entirety was a Coptic endowment?

As matters appeared to be reaching a stalemate, the congregation was planning to move their demonstration to Cairo on Saturday. Watani went to press while awaiting an end the dilemma. For updated information, readers may visit our website at www.watani.com.eg.

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