To Egypt in the Week of Prayer for Unity

Professor Dr. Michel Abs

The Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)

We head to Egypt with great longing for its people, its Nile, its skies, and the pleasure of being there.
We go to Egypt to participate in the Week of Prayer for the Unity of Christians, which Christians around the world have been doing for more than a hundred years, although the dates of this Week in Egypt does not exactly match with the dates of same event in the Antiochian Levant.

What delights us when we visit Egypt and hear from its church leaders, as well as from our compatriots, is how the Egyptian people live with a social and national unity that transcends differences of religion or sect.
There is an unambiguous consensus among the people of Egypt regarding the unity of culture and citizenry, and the need to make every possible sacrifice to preserve this unity.

Isn’t His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, the entrusted with the See of Saint Mark, the one whose words everyone repeats: “It is better for us to have a homeland without a church than to have a church without a homeland”?
Truly spoken, Your Holiness, for if the homeland is lost, everything is lost; but if the homeland remains, it becomes the place that shelters the church, the mosque, and all God’s worshippers.

I have sat with many Egyptian elites of various affiliations, and they all clearly share this choice: the homeland comes first, and in this regard, there is no compromise whatsoever.
When certain security incidents, that had a discriminatory dimension, arose in Egypt, the positions of the elites and the public were identical: there is no room for any sort of conflict, and maintaining Egypt’s stability and prosperity remains the priority.

This solidarity among the people reminds us of many stances taken by the members of our nation in its different states to preserve the unity and well-being of their homeland.
The palpable mutual maturation among the different segments of Egyptian society is very advanced, and they fully understand that their unity stretches back thousands of years, deeply rooted in history. This gives the Egyptian identity clear features and qualities that make it a single entity to the entire world.

“Egyptian Christianity,” as I like to call it, is not something separate from the Egyptian identity. It is impossible to distinguish between an Egyptian belonging to one religion and his brethren belonging to another religion, and this is what makes Egypt resistant to conspiracies and all forms of attempts to manipulate its destiny.

No attribute rivals the gentle and kind nature of the Egyptian people except their firmness in holding fast to their identity, their land, and their state. It is a strong state, well-organized, and its leaders possess evident foresight. How else could the affairs of over one hundred million people be managed if not through such capability?

One feels both joy and reassurance seeing how the largest country in the Arab world maintains such stability and security, despite the economic crises it may face, naturally arising in the midst of the major transformations occurring worldwide, especially in the Middle East, which is the region most affected.

We will visit and meet with numerous authorities to inform them of the latest developments in the Middle East Council of Churches, its plans for the future, and its continuously updated strategies in light of the changes unfolding in our surroundings. These strategies are prepared by a competent team and are supported by the MECC’s authorities and international partners.

Attending the Week of Prayer for the Unity of the Church in Egypt must become a fixed tradition in the ecumenical calendar, and around it, we must build a range of activities. Chief among these are consultations with church and general Egyptian leaders and notables, along with delivering lectures and talks on various occasions during that week.

May God bless the land that sheltered the Holy Family during its refuge, the land of Saint Mark’s preaching, and bless its people and wise leadership.