Europe’s grief

On New Year’s eve Europe was shattered by the bombing in front of a Coptic Church in Alexandria, Egypt, which killed 22 people and caused 79 casualties, mostly Orthodox Coptic faithful. Repeated statements of grief and appeals to political and religious leaders have been ongoing since the beginning of the year, voiced by the representatives of Christian Churches as well as by the spokesmen of Islamic communities in Europe. Pope Benedict XVI was among the first to convey words of sorrow and grief for the tragic events in Egypt. On Sunday January 2, at the end of the Angelus, His Holiness said: “This vile and murderous gesture, like that of placing bombs near the houses of Christians in Iraq to force them to leave, offends God and all humankind”.Orthodox Europe. Europe’s Orthodox world gathered around the Coptic Church in Egypt. Messages of condolences were sent by the Patriarch Kyrill of Moscow and All Russia and by the president of the Department for External Relations of the Patriarchate Hilarion to Pope Shenouda III, spiritual leader of the ancient Coptic community. Patriarch Kyrill underlined the closeness of the Russian Orthodox Church to Coptic Christians. Metropolitan bishop Hilarion said the terrorist attack in Alexandria “aims at fomenting sectarian conflicts”. “Terrorists’ deeds only cause suffering, sorrow and grief”, he pointed out. In a release, the Orthodox bishops of France also express their “concern” over the violence in the region, “whose purpose is to force the Christian communities – whose Eastern roots date back to the dawn of Christianity- to emigrate”. “In addition to the wound inflicted to Christianity – the bishops write -, it is the very model of peaceful cohabitation between people and communities of different religions that is endangered. All the viable forces of these nations – Christians and Muslims alike – are now called to respond together”. The Orthodox Bishops of France “call upon the French and European authorities to take appropriate measures to put an end to such violence and help Middle Eastern countries evolve towards a model of coexistence based on the rule of the law and mutual recognition”. CEC and WCC. “Acts of terrorism such as this remind us all that we must stand united, Christians and Muslims, through these dangerous times. All places of worship must be safeguarded, and at this moment in time we gather around our brothers and sisters in Egypt and, with them, speak out for their fundamental right of freedom to worship”, states the Conference of European Churches (CEC) in a message of condolences. His Eminence Metropolitan Emmanuel, President of CEC, which coordinates in Geneva all European Christian Churches of Anglican, Orthodox and Protestant denomination, sent his condolences to all the Coptic Christians in Europe, to all of the Egyptian people, and to the Primate, Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria. The WCC general secretary, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, on behalf of the fellowship of WCC member churches appealed to President Mubarak of Egypt, to religious leaders and to governments across the region “to act swiftly and boldly to safeguard the fundamental religious rights of worshippers of all faiths, to ensure security in the face of violence and to guarantee justice for all people”. The archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams also expressed his sorrow. “We know the long and honourable history of co-existence of Christians and Muslims in Egypt and are confident that the overwhelming majority of Egyptian people will join in condemning this and similar acts”.The voice of European Muslim Communities. Representatives of Islamic communities in Europe equally condemned the attack. “Horror and pain” was conveyed by the leadership of the Union of Islamic Communities in Italy – UCOII: “no faith, belief or ideology could ever be invoked to justify or explain the atrocious motivation of such a barbarous deed which has evidently been planned and perpetrated to undermine century-long coexistence between Muslims and Christians, two historical presences in the Country”. “We call upon the entire network of mosques which refer to our Union – the executive added – to pray for the victims so that their criminal provocation may fail. May our brothers present their condolences to the Christians in Egypt, as a token of our human closeness”. The French Council of Islamic faith (CFCM) and the Union of French Muslims expressed their “vehement” condemnation of the attack. The dean of the Great Mosque of Paris Dalil Boubakeur, warned: “the sought objective to cause fierce and devastating clashes between Christians and Muslims is doomed to fail”.