Head of the Egyptian Coptic Church Pope Shenouda III, during his weekly sermon on Wednesday, said recent Al-Qaeda threats directed at Copts have evoked sympathy for the Christian community. That sympathy, according to the pope, constitutes a positive side to crisis.
The sermon was delivered with heightened security.
The Pope thanked Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Ahmed al-Tayyeb for his condemnation of the attack on the Our Lady of Deliverance Church in Iraq, and of threats against Egypt's Christian institutions.
"I read with great interest the statements of Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Ahmed Al-Tayyeb, in which he condemned the wicked attack on Our Lady of Deliverance Church and said that he opposes actions like this completely and thoroughly and does not accept the threat to the monasteries and churches of Egypt," Shenouda said. "In all of your names we thank his grace the Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar, may God give him health and safety."
"Our lord in present," the pope continued with a line he has said in the past during times of distress. "All matters work together for good and for those who love God, and our lord forbids evil or transforms evil into good. The threats that came to us are a reason for many people to sympathize with us, from the clerics of our Muslim brothers to writers and journalists and security forces."
The Al-Qaeda off-shoot known as "The Islamic Nation of Iraq" has threatened to target churches until "Muslim women imprisoned in monasteries" are released. The warning referenced the two wives of Coptic priests, Wafa' Constantine and Kamilia Shehata, who allegedly converted to Islam only to be forcibly detained by the Coptic community.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
