Pope Shenouda Keeps Boycotting Alexandria

Pope Shenouda Keeps Boycotting Alexandria due to His Dispute with Labib; the Church Accused of Putting Pressure on the State

For the 12th consecutive week, Pope Shenouda III, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of Saint Mark’s Church, did not go to Alexandria to deliver his weekly lecture at St. Mark’s Church.

This is due to his reported objection to the decision of Major General Adel Labib, Governor of Alexandria, to pull down several ecclesiastical buildings because they were irregular and unauthorized.

Christian and Muslim intellectuals have accused the Coptic Orthodox Church of double standards in dealing with government officials and of putting continuous pressure on the basis of religious and sectarian basis.

They said this is reflected in the crisis between Naga Hamadi Bishop Kirillos and Major General Magdy Ayoub Iskandar, Governor of Qena, as the former has accused the latter of disrupting the Church’s interests and not granting permits to build or restore churches.

They pointed out that the Church deals with officials on a personal basis, regardless of the law.

“Bishop Kirillos launched a scathing attack on Qena governor and then praised and thanked former Governor Adel Labib, describing him as a rightful man. Yet, he pretended to forget that the Alexandria Confessional Council declared that Pope Shenouda has not gone to Alexandria for more than two months and has stopped delivering his weekly sermons there because of his anger at Governor Adel Labib for demolishing some ecclesiastical buildings ” critics said.

They affirmed that priest Sarobim Al-Bachomy, Under-Secretary of the Pope in Alexandria, was suspended after 13 years of service because he read out a poem in which he praised Labib while he was attending the latest Easter mass.

Dr. Ghihad Awda, professor of political sciences at Helwan University and member of the National Democratic Party (NDP) Policies Committee, said the Church wrongly believes that by putting pressure on the State it will come up with some positive outcome regardless of the law.

He said the Church was putting this pressure due to Pope Shenouda’s weak authority and the division of power in the Church among several parties, which has prompted each party to try to gain fame and power even at the expense of the State.

“In many cases, Pope Shenouda doesn’t want to escalate any crisis, but he has to due to the pressures from centers of power inside the Church” he said.

He pointed out that when the State deals with these crises, it tries to reach an appeasement for fear that the national Church may explode from the inside.

Dr. and priest Ikram Lamaei, chairman of the media committee at the Evangelical Church, called for clear legal principles not related to people so that matters cannot be personalized.

He stressed the need for the Church and official governmental bodies to talk to each other via official means rather than through spiritual authorities so that their discussions may be on the ground.

Kamal Zakhir, coordinator of the Secular Copts, ascribed the Church’s double standards when dealing with the State to the absence of a civil state.

He said in a civil state the Church is confined to the religious and spiritual framework and stays away from politics, while the government exclusively deals with administrative matters.

He also stressed the need for all parties to resort to legal channels.

“When there is a problem between a bishop and a governor, they should resort to the law and the judiciary” Zakher said.

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