Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Cairo (Agenzia Fides) - "We have been celebrating since yesterday evening. We did not sleep. The people of Egypt have peacefully regained their country. And therefore showed the world that they are civilized people, in spite of the great problems they face". This is how the Patriarch of Alexandria of the Catholic Copts Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak describes to Fides Agency the atmosphere that is perceived in the country after the overthrow of President Morsi by the army and the traumatic end of the government monopolized by the Muslim Brotherhood. The head of the Coptic Catholic Church expresses support for the road map outlined to get out of the political crisis and stabilize the Country: "Several signals" explains His Beatitude to Fides "show that we are on the right track. We will not repeat the mistakes made in the past. This time, they have well prepared the next steps, today the new interim President Adly Mansour swears in, and gradually steps will be taken towards the full restoration of democratic order". The Coptic Catholic Patriarch does not hide problems: "We cannot say that we do not have fears. The economic situation is worrying and makes everyone more at risk of being manipulated by the sirens of propaganda. Morsi’s militant supporters feel they have lost, and this can trigger feelings of revenge. We must convince them that there is also place for them in the Country and that no one rejects them, but they should be and behave as Egyptians, as fellow citizens of all the other Egyptians, and not aim at establishing religious despotism. " According to His Beatitude Sidrak "The people have experienced a bad year and will never accept to go back. But at least five million citizens will continue to support the radical beliefs of the Muslim Brotherhood. They should not be excluded from the political scene, but they must behave like a political party, and not as a means to impose religious hegemony. Everyone can live their own religious faith in the mosque or church, without imposing on others religious precepts". (GV) (Agenzia Fides 04/07/2013).
