• 08:06
  • Monday ,12 November 2012
العربية

I demand from H.H. Pope Tawadros…

Ashraf Abdel-Kader

Article Of The Day

00:11

Monday ,12 November 2012

I demand from H.H. Pope Tawadros…

I congratulate Egypt, the Coptic Christians, and myself on choosing H.H. Pope Tawadros II to be the Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church at the same day of his 60th birthday. I pray that God may help His Holiness and strengthen him in his great responsibility.

Your Holiness will be officially enthroned on November 18th, 2012, and will have to face the current exceptional situation in Egypt and the whole region, which magnifies the tremendous responsibility of yours.

One problem that you may have to face is the Personal Status Law, the common Law of building houses of worship, and many other problems and concerns of the Coptic Christians in Egypt that I am sure you'll be able to solve them.

Dear Pope, as a patriot loving Egyptian, I hope that you may consider the Personal Status law as top priority in your agenda, as it really needs to be fixed as your holiness may know that the Catholic Ecumenical Church, the Anglican British Church, the Protestant Church, and the Russian Orthodox Church have stated that divorce is permitted before the courts, which is permitted also in human rights documents.

I want to add that such prevention of divorce by the Coptic Orthodox Church is like a bleeding for the Coptic Christians in Egypt as a friend, whom I trust, have told me that more that 50.000 Coptic Christians are converted into Islam in order to be able to divorce their marital partner. If you added the huge numbers of the Coptic Christian immigrants out of Egypt, we may face the fact that a day may come when there are not as many Copts in Egypt as now.

I hope that Your Holiness may start your leadership of the Coptic Orthodox Church with permitting such right to the Coptic Christians to stop many of them from converting into Islam in order to get divorced. In fact, anyone should be able to practice any religion he believes in, but not in order to get divorced. I hope that God may help you to continue the wise leadership of his holiness the late pope Shenouda III, and good luck!