homeWorld

Egypt's Coptic Pope urges national unity as sectarian attacks on Christians intensifies

Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria urged Egyptian leaders to uphold national unity in the light of increased sectarian attacks targeting the religious minority of Coptic Christians.

Egyptian Coptic Pope Tawadros II (C), head of the Coptic Orthodox church, arrives to the funeral of Anba Abraham, Coptic Orthodox Metropolitan Archbishop of Jerusalem and the Near East, in Jerusalem's Old City November 28, 2015. | REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

The 63-year-old leader of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church met with members of the parliamentary Monday, including the Committee on Religious Affairs and the Support Egypt bloc at Al-Abbasiya Cathedral in Cairo.

According to the Assyrian International News Agency (AINA), the Coptic Pope cited a report that revealed 37 sectarian attacks on Coptic Christians since 2013 or an average of one case per month. He then told the Egyptian lawmakers that these increased attacks could lead the country's religious unity to be "defaced."

"The incidents we heard about are very painful. On my part, I'm patient and enduring, but there have been incidents that warn of danger," a Coptic Church statement quoted the pope as saying, as reported by AINA.

Pope Tawadros II also reminded the parliamentarians that national unity reflected their "responsibility in front of the world, future generations, history and in front of God."

The head of the Support Egypt coalition, lawmaker Saad El-Gamal, responded by praising the Coptic Pope for his "wisdom." He reported that the religion committee already undertook to draft a legislation for church construction as well as one that would recognize sectarian attacks as "crimes against national unity."

Dr. Osama El-Abd, chairman of the religion committee, agreed it was timely to "build our modern state in the face of discord."

"I have Christian friends, we are partners in [business], and they have never harassed me or subjected me to injustice," stated El-Abd.

Coptic Christians reportedly make up 10-15 percent of the country's 90 million population and repeatedly complained of being harassed and marginalized by the Islamist majority.

Islamists stabbed to death a Christian man last week and wounded others in Minya Governorate where a string of sectarian violence occurred more frequently. Muslim mobs also set several houses on fire and harassed Coptic villagers of Minya's Abu Yacoub and Kom El Loofy over rumors of church building construction in the areas.

The religious minorities condemn the reconciliation process between the concerned parties that only allowed officials to release the arrested Muslims and further humiliate the Copts.

"What happened in Minya is nothing but a natural result of not enforcing the law in previous sectarian attacks against the Copts, and forcing the Copts to go through reconciliation meetings and obey illegal solutions that are demeaning," Ishak Ibrahim, human rights researcher for Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, told Morning Star News.