'When two Popes met in the Vatican' by His Grace Bishop Angaelos, featured in Oremus Westminster Cathedral Magazine
Faith leaders demand gay marriage rethink
An unprecedented alliance of religious leaders has called on David Cameron to rethink his plans to allow gay people to marry, warning that the change will “devalue the meaning of marriage”.
By James Kirkup 31 May 2013 View Article via The Telegraph online:
Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist leaders have signed a letter to the Prime Minister, pleading with him to abandon the legislation, which will be debated in the House of Lords next week.
Allowing couples of the same sex to marry will cause “injustice and unfairness”, the signatories said, accusing Mr Cameron of rushing the legislation through Parliament to prevent proper scrutiny.
The letter was signed by leaders of several Christian denominations, including Bishop Michael Hill, the Anglican Bishop of Bristol and Archbishop Bernard Longley, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham.
Other Christian signatories include Bishop Angaelos of Britain’s Coptic Orthodox Church
Among the leading Muslims signing the letter is Sir Iqbal Sacranie, a former head of the Muslim Council of Britain
Other signatories include: Rabbi Natan Levy, an adviser to the Board of Deputies of British Jews; Bhai Sahib Bhai Mohinder Singh, a Sikh community leader; and John Beard, a prominent Buddhist.
The proposed law would “create a two-tier form of marriage”, they wrote.
In same-sex marriages, “the importance of consummation, procreation and the welfare of children, as well as issues such as adultery have been ignored.” That, the signatories said, “devalues the meaning of marriage itself”.
Mr Cameron has argued that allowing gay people to marry will address a fundamental injustice and strengthen society.
The proposals have already split the Conservative Party, as half of its MPs opposed the legislation in the Commons last month.
The bill is expected to face stiff resistance from members of the House of Lords next week and could even be rejected there. That would raise the prospect of a constitutional struggle between ministers in the Commons and the upper house.
In a personal appeal to the Prime Minister, the signatories warned that his plans will actually weaken society.
“Marriage between a man and a woman is the fundamental building block of human society,” they said. “These proposals would radically undermine the nature and place of the family in our society. We cannot believe that this is what you intend and therefore ask you to pause before taking such a damaging step.”
A total of 53 religious leaders have signed the letter, which notes that concern about the proposals is not confined to any single faith.
Followers of all faiths and those without any religion are unhappy about the proposals, they said.
“We are disappointed that the Government has failed to engage in meaningful debate with the many different faith communities in Britain. It has wrongly assumed that opposition to the redefinition of marriage is confined to a small number of Christians.”
The House of Commons has spent several days debating the details of the proposals, but the religious leaders said ministers are rushing the process.
“The haste with which this legislation is being driven through Parliament and the failure to talk to all religions will mean that the problems which we have repeatedly highlighted will be written into law with serious and harmful consequences for the health of society, family life, and human rights such as freedom of religion and of speech.”
FULL LIST OF SIGNATORIES
1. Bishop Doye Agama, (Presiding Bishop, Apostolic Pastoral Congress)
2. Bishop Angaelos (General Bishop, Coptic Orthodox Church, UK)
3. Dr Hamid Aldubayan (Chair of Regents Park Mosque)
4. Shaykh Dr. Haitham al-Haddad, Founder and Executive Director, MRDF
5. Mr John Beard (Buddhist)
6. Mr James Bogle (Barrister, Vice-Chairman of the Catholic Union)
7. Khurshid Drabu CBE, Dr Ahmed Al Dubyan, Islamic Culture Centre
9. Rev Canon Ben Enwuchola (Anglican Chaplain to the Nigerian Community)
10. Mrs Sarah Finch (Member of General Synod)
11. Sheikh Suliman Gani (Imam, Tooting Islamic Centre)
12. Dr Lee Gatiss (Director, Church Society)
13. Rev John Glass, (General Superintendant, Elim Pentecostal Churches)
14. Bishop Creswell Green, (Chair Joint Council of Anglo-Caribbean Churches, General Overseer of the Latter-Rain Outpouring Revival Ministries)
15. Rev George Hargreaves (Founder of the Christian Party)
16. Bishop Paul Hendricks (Roman Catholic Auxiliary Bishop of Southwark & Co-Chairman of the Christian Muslim Forum)
17. Bishop Michael Hill (Anglican Bishop of Bristol)
18. Rev James Hunt (Rector, Bishops Waltham)
19. Mrs Rebecca Hunt (Barrister)
20. Shaykh Dr Musharraf Hussain, Karimia Institute
21. Dr Hussein Jina (President. Council of European Jamaats)
22. Pastor Jean Bosco Kanyemesha, (Congolese Pastorship UK)
23. Dr A.Majid Katme (Spokesman, Islamic Medical Association)
24. The Venerable Michael Lawson (Former Archdeacon of Hampstead)
25. Mrs Susie Leafe (Member of General Synod)
26. Rabbi Natan Levy
27. Archbishop Bernard Longley (Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham)
28. Bishop Patrick Lynch (Roman Catholic Auxiliary Bishop of Southwark)
29. Apostle Caleb Mackintosh, (General Overseer, Bibleway Churches (UK))
30. Maulana Sarfraz Madni, Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board (MINAB)
31. Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, Imam, Leicester
32. Shaykh Shams Adduha Muhammad, Ebrahim College
33. Farooq Murad, Muslim Council of Britain
34. Dr Mohammed Naseem (Chairman, Birmingham Central Mosque)
35. Bishop Michael Nazir Ali (Former Bishop of Rochester)
36. Mr Ade Omooba (Christian Concern)
37. Archbishop F.N.Onyuku-Opokiri, (Born Again Christ Healing Church International)
38. Pastor Pete Pennant, (Lighthouse Church, Birmingham)
39. Rev Paul Perkin (Chairman, Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans,UK and Ireland)
40. Shaykh Abdul Qayum, Senior, East London Mosque
41. Mr Munawar Rattansey (President of World Federation of Shia Ithnari)
40. Maulana Shahid Raza, Muslim College
43. Mr Giles Rowe (Catholic Forum)
44. Sir Iqbal Sacranie, Al-Risalah Trust
45. Bishop Keith Sinclair (Anglican Bishop of Birkenhead)
46. Bhai Sahib Bhai Mohinder Singh, (Chairman, Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha’)
47. Archbishop Peter Smith (Roman Catholic Archbishop of Southwark)
48. Archbishop George Stack (Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cardiff)
49. Rev John Stevens (Director of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches)
50. Canon Dr Chris Sugden (Executive Secretary, Anglican Mainstream)
51. Prebendary Rod Thomas (Chairman of Reform)
52. Rev Dr Simon Vibert (Wycliffe Hall, Oxford)
53. Bishop Alfred Williams General Overseer Christ faith Tabernacle International Churches
8:19GMT
'The Guardian's Patrick Kingsley, based in Cairo, picks up on reaction from a Coptic bishop:Source: The Guardian http://bit.ly/10EzN9j
Coptic Bishop Angaelos – tweeting live from the Egyptian desert – has described his "heartfelt joy" at not just the new Roman Catholic pope, but the new Coptic Catholic patriarch, who was by a quirk of fate also enthroned this week.
Bishop Angaelos describes the evening as "surreal", though it is unclear whether this surreality comes from today's news, or from his sandy surroundings, which Angaelos claims to be the birthplace of monasticism.'
This cross ban had nothing to do with real persecution
Alan Wilson
Last week I was profoundly moved to hear a Coptic bishop explain that his Church’s calendar runs 284 years behind the one other Christians use because it begins in the year Diocletian became Roman emperor. Under his Great Persecution whole cities were wiped out, and even when all the embellishments are stripped away from stories about early Christian martyrs this period is still an appalling era of genocide and brutality.
Visitors to Canterbury Cathedral may remember from its chapel of the martyrs that the 20th century produced more Christian martyrs than the first 19 put together, with its gulags and concentration camps. Persecution, even martyrdom, is the daily experience of Christians in Iran, Pakistan, North Korea and Egypt. However Bishop Angaelos assured me with calm dignity that Coptic Christians do not wish to be seen as victims but as those whose love is strong as death, driven but not despairing, dying yet they live.
Against such a sombre and bloody backdrop yesterday’s European Court of Human Rights judgment in favour of Nadia Eweida, a Coptic Christian, is an oasis of tolerance and hope. British Airways’ response to her wearing a cross to work was disproportionate and heavy-handed. Three other claims were rejected, including those of a registrar who refused to officiate at civil partnerships. In other words, the court recognised the right to express religion reasonably and proportionally.
Christians who feel persecuted here sometimes claim that human rights legislation is Europe’s secularist bogeyman. But these judgments vindicate the rights of every religious minority to express its faith openly and reasonably. It can be seen only as a victory, surprising perhaps, given that the court is not popularly associated with the classic English virtues of tolerance and common sense.
It makes much whining about persecution in Britain look overblown. We ought instead turn a brighter spotlight towards those parts of the world where religious freedom is threatened by violence. That does not mean people merely disagreeing with Christians, but thugs pursuing them with gun, knife and bare hand.
The great human rights charters were an attempt to find a new basis for civilisation after what some saw as the failure of Christendom to prevent two world wars. They reflect basic human values. The lesson of yesterday is that the only ground on which a decent world can be built is tolerance and respect for the rights of all — religious, secular, gay or straight.
It’s time to tone down talk about persecution here, so that we do not trivialise the harsh realities of persecution overseas.
Alan Wilson is Bishop of Buckingham
(This article is featured on p.20 The Times January 16 2013 in the 'Opinion' section)
Copts prepare to put their faith in new Pope
Saturday 22 September 2012
Michael Binyon
A boy of 5 will soon decide who is to be the new Patriarch of the Coptic Christian community
The riots and violence provoked across the Muslim world by the anti-Islamic film said to have been made by an Egyptian Copt in America have left millions of Egyptian Christians fearful of a violent backlash against their community.
It comes at a time when their community is without a leader. But in two months’ time a small blindfolded boy will literally hold their fate in his hands when he selects the name of the next Pope of the Coptic Church.
After months of widespread discussion among senior priests, academics, politicians and community leaders of the largest Christian community in the Middle East, the final selection has been made of those put forward to succeed Pope Shenouda III, who died in March aged 88. He had led the Coptic Church for 41 years. The names of the three senior clerics chosen as the most qualified to lead a church that traces its origins back directly to St Mark will be placed in a box on the altar and the choice will be made in a way sanctified by centuries of Old Testament tradition and practice — by lot. The final choice, Copts insist, will be made by God. His instrument will be a five-year-old child selected at random at the start of a service in the main Coptic Cathedral in Cairo on December 2. The boy, free from the influence of any ecclesiastical or political faction, will be asked to draw one name from the receptacle at the high altar. The acting head of the Church will then proclaim the next Pope, or, using his full title, “Lord Archbishop of the Great City of Alexandria and Patriarch of all Africa on the Holy Apostolic See of St Mark the Evangelist and Holy Apostle.”
The new Pope will face a tough challenge — leading 14 million Copts worldwide at a time of rising religious tensions in Egypt and a growing network of Coptic faithful overseas. The Church leadership has welcomed the democratic changes in Egyptian politics, and is seeking good relations with the new Muslim Brotherhood President, Mohamed Morsi. But the fury provoked by the crude film ridiculing the Prophet Muhammad has terrified the Coptic community, who fear that they will be blamed for the antics of Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the Coptic fraudster in America linked to its production. For months Copts have been worrying about the growth of Islamist extremism and the number of attacks on Coptic churches and believers.
The selection of candidates is made by the Church’s General Congregation, comprising the Holy Synod and the General Lay Council, from among the 14 bishops and priests who have been nominated. It will take place during a service attended by a representative from Egypt’s Ministry of the Interior. Once the votes have been counted, a shortlist of 5-7 contenders will be drawn up in October, the Church will order two days of fasting at the end of November, and on December 2 the three leading names will be placed in a box at the altar during the service to pick the next Pope, the 118th since St Mark founded the Church in Egypt and ordained the first Bishop of Alexandria.
The selection process is remarkably democratic. As well as bishops and archbishops, the voters include leading members of the Coptic community — judges, civil servants, doctors, lawyers, journalists and senior parish leaders. The regulations were last amended in the 1957 charter, and stipulate that any monk older than 40 who has spent 15 or more years in his religious order can be nominated. Under the present rules, the candidate must be an Egyptian citizen. Papal nominations closed on May 17.
Since then, there has been much talk of broadening the eligibility, and the acting Pope — Bishop Bakhoumious — has stated that the new Pope will be obliged to amend the regulations within his first year in office. Any change would have to be ratified by the Egyptian Parliament. The Church now has sizeable congregations, especially in the United States, Europe and Australia, where many Egyptians have emigrated, and it is felt their strong influence should be recognised.
Britain, too, has a thriving community of Copts, headed by Bishop Angaelos. An articulate, personable scholar who served for many years as the private secretary to Shenouda, he came here 17 years ago, and has built up a network of contacts with most of the Christian churches in Britain.
The main Coptic cathedral in Britain is in Stevenage, but there are also three other bishops, based in Birmingham, Newcastle and the West Country. Copts in Britain have their own website, run a lively youth centre and sports facilities and are closely involved in the wider community in Stevenage. The Church also holds monthly services in London for all those coming to know the Church. A traditional Coptic service goes on for hours, but Bishop Angaelos said these London services last an hour. “We have to be realistic. People do not have time to come for longer.”
He insists that relations between Copts and Muslims have generally been good — the Copts, after all, trace their history back before the Muslim conquest of Egypt, and their name is derived from the word for the original Egyptians. “The problem is not with the Muslim community, but with radical Islam. In Egypt, we have lived together for 1,300 years.” But he issued a swift condemnation of the antiIslamic film, and insisted that this could not be blamed on the whole Coptic community. He is keen to build on all the current forums for dialogue with Muslims. But he insists that dialogue does not mean agreement — it means mutual respect.
Egyptian Copts, numbering about 12 million, have close links with the Church in Ethiopia and with the newly established autonomous Church in Eritrea — both offshoots of the original Church in Alexandria. But Copts in Egypt have experienced growing difficulties in the past 20 years, as Islamists have pushed for greater restrictions. A main bone of contention, which the Church will again raise with President Morsi, is the ban on building new churches without special government permission, which is often denied by the local authorities. There is no such ban on the building of new mosques. The Mubarak regime did little to improve conditions for Copts, but since his overthrow calls for greater freedom and equal rights have grown.
Disputes arise frequently, especially over the vexed issue of conversion, which is banned by Islam and strongly discouraged by the Copts. Christian women who marry Muslims can cause tensions in their community.
The worry today is that as the new Government finds itself unable to provide the hoped-for jobs, higher wages and democratic freedoms, popular disillusion will grow and Copts may find themselves made scapegoats. Already there are signs that the Salafists, the hardline Islamists who won about 25 per cent of the seats in this year’s parliamentary elections, are trying to impose new restrictions on Copts.
The Church is used to fighting for its rights, however. Soon after his election, Pope Shenouda crossed swords with President Sadat, and there was a standoff lasting several years before the Government reconciled itself to him. With religious tensions at their highest for years, the new Pope may well find himself soon called on to exert vigorous leadership of his embattled community.
