If you were not shocked by Pope Tawadros' recent statements to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo — especially if compared to the statements of Bishop Paul — others were not only shocked, but attacked him severely. For their beloved ones died in the Maspero events.
The position of the Church should be commensurate with the two revolutions, which ostensibly established new standards that should prevail. The most important of these standards is not to mix religion with politics.
When Bishop Paul says political parties should take the church's opinion regarding the parliamentary candidates, and when Pope Tawadros says freedom has limits and that the Internet should be controlled — not to mention his remarks about the verdict on Mubarak — it's a sign that we are moving nowhere.
We demanded several times under Mubarak that the church stop interfering in political affairs. After Mubarak left and Pope Shenouda died, we demanded that the church and the pope limit their role to preaching.
All Coptic Christians have the right to adopt a political inclination just like any other Egyptian, separate from the church and its leadership. But it seems that Bishop Paul wants the Church to maintain the role it has been playing for too long, completely oblivious of the fact that the revolution has affected the Copts along with all other Egyptians. The Copts do not need any political direction from the church, they only need spiritual guidance.
Does the intervention of church leaders mean they want to have an influence? Did Pope Tawadros not know that the church should not be involved in politics? Why did he not decline to answer the political questions of the Spanish journalist in order to spare himself controversy?
The pope cannot swim in the quicksand of today's politics. He should realize that the church has no political role anymore. The Copts paid a dear price when the church was involved in politics. It may have been the wish of the church and the regime at one point in time, but now it is time for both to stop.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
