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| In Cairo, Francis Takes On ‘Demagogic’ Populism and Violence Masked as Piety | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Right Now: Pope Francis arrived in Egypt, bearing a message of peace and reconciliation. The country is under a state of emergency after suicide bombings, attributed to Islamic State militants, killed at least 44 people in Coptic Christian churches on Palm Sunday. | |
| ■ It is Francis’ 18th trip outside Italy in the four years of his papacy, and his seventh to a predominantly Muslim nation. He is the second pope to visit Egypt, after Pope John Paul II, who went to Cairo and Mount Sinai in 2000. | ■ It is Francis’ 18th trip outside Italy in the four years of his papacy, and his seventh to a predominantly Muslim nation. He is the second pope to visit Egypt, after Pope John Paul II, who went to Cairo and Mount Sinai in 2000. |
| ■ The pope’s day was packed with symbolically powerful and diplomatically delicate encounters. He offered his support to Coptic Orthodox Christians who have endured persecution and violence, reached out to Muslim leaders and met with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who came to power after a 2013 coup. | ■ The pope’s day was packed with symbolically powerful and diplomatically delicate encounters. He offered his support to Coptic Orthodox Christians who have endured persecution and violence, reached out to Muslim leaders and met with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who came to power after a 2013 coup. |
| ■ The pope also spoke at a peace conference hosted by Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al Azhar mosque, and met with the Coptic patriarch, Pope Tawadros II. On Saturday, he will celebrate a Mass and meet with Catholic clergy and seminarians. | |
| Cairo wore a deserted air Friday morning, with little sense of the public anticipation that preceded the 2000 visit by John Paul. White-clad police officers and intelligence officials carrying radios stood guard over a major bridge that crosses the Nile. Soldiers wearing balaclavas sat on armored vehicles at the intersection of deserted streets. Traffic was light, with many Cairenes apparently deciding to stay at home (the weekend starts on Friday) or away from districts that Francis will be visiting. | Cairo wore a deserted air Friday morning, with little sense of the public anticipation that preceded the 2000 visit by John Paul. White-clad police officers and intelligence officials carrying radios stood guard over a major bridge that crosses the Nile. Soldiers wearing balaclavas sat on armored vehicles at the intersection of deserted streets. Traffic was light, with many Cairenes apparently deciding to stay at home (the weekend starts on Friday) or away from districts that Francis will be visiting. |
| The tight security is largely a reflection of the unease after a spate of recent Islamic State attacks on Christian churches. But it also reflects a deep-seated antipathy toward mass public gatherings by the Sisi government, which has outlawed public protest. | The tight security is largely a reflection of the unease after a spate of recent Islamic State attacks on Christian churches. But it also reflects a deep-seated antipathy toward mass public gatherings by the Sisi government, which has outlawed public protest. |
| The pope invoked Egypt’s “glorious history” as an ancient cradle of civilization to argue on Friday that the delivery of a more peaceful future required a new civility that appreciated differences, resisted the violent path of close-minded absolutism and condemned extremists who camouflage terror in religious language. | The pope invoked Egypt’s “glorious history” as an ancient cradle of civilization to argue on Friday that the delivery of a more peaceful future required a new civility that appreciated differences, resisted the violent path of close-minded absolutism and condemned extremists who camouflage terror in religious language. |
| “An education in respectful openness and sincere dialogue with others, recognizing their rights and basic freedoms, particularly religious freedom, represents the best way to build the future together, to be builders of civility,” the pope said in a speech at a conference hosted by Al Azhar, perhaps the most influential center of Muslim learning and religious formation in Sunni Islam. | “An education in respectful openness and sincere dialogue with others, recognizing their rights and basic freedoms, particularly religious freedom, represents the best way to build the future together, to be builders of civility,” the pope said in a speech at a conference hosted by Al Azhar, perhaps the most influential center of Muslim learning and religious formation in Sunni Islam. |
| As the center’s influential Sheikh Tayeb sat beside him on a stage decorated with minarets, Francis said that more attention needed to be paid to educating the young “to counter effectively the barbarity of those who foment hatred and violence” and warned that “evil only gives rise to more evil, and violence to more violence.” | As the center’s influential Sheikh Tayeb sat beside him on a stage decorated with minarets, Francis said that more attention needed to be paid to educating the young “to counter effectively the barbarity of those who foment hatred and violence” and warned that “evil only gives rise to more evil, and violence to more violence.” |
| In a decentralized Muslim world, the pope’s speech and his continuation of a dialogue with Sheikh Tayeb provided Muslims with a high-profile counterpoint to the radical language coming from extremists. Al Azhar forms many of the Sunni world’s imams and oversees the education of millions of Egyptian children and college students. | In a decentralized Muslim world, the pope’s speech and his continuation of a dialogue with Sheikh Tayeb provided Muslims with a high-profile counterpoint to the radical language coming from extremists. Al Azhar forms many of the Sunni world’s imams and oversees the education of millions of Egyptian children and college students. |
| “This is a big moment in Catholic-Muslim dialogue,” said the Rev. Tom Reese, a veteran Vatican observer and senior fellow at Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University. “Everybody in the Muslim world is going to know that this has happened.” | “This is a big moment in Catholic-Muslim dialogue,” said the Rev. Tom Reese, a veteran Vatican observer and senior fellow at Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University. “Everybody in the Muslim world is going to know that this has happened.” |
| In a speech at times blunt and other times thick with imagery, the pope said that better cooperation by the two religions could lead to a new generation refreshing an environment poisoned by the one before it. “Young people, like well-planted trees, can be firmly rooted in the soil of history,” he said, “and growing heavenward in one another’s company, can daily turn the polluted air of hatred into the oxygen of fraternity.” | In a speech at times blunt and other times thick with imagery, the pope said that better cooperation by the two religions could lead to a new generation refreshing an environment poisoned by the one before it. “Young people, like well-planted trees, can be firmly rooted in the soil of history,” he said, “and growing heavenward in one another’s company, can daily turn the polluted air of hatred into the oxygen of fraternity.” |
| Perhaps calming the concerns of conservative Catholics worried that the pope would drift too far in his search for a Muslim interlocutor with real power, the pope made a point to emphasize that respect for one’s own identity and religious formation was a critical step to having the “courage to accept differences.” It would help the two faiths walk together not as enemies but as “fellow travelers.” | Perhaps calming the concerns of conservative Catholics worried that the pope would drift too far in his search for a Muslim interlocutor with real power, the pope made a point to emphasize that respect for one’s own identity and religious formation was a critical step to having the “courage to accept differences.” It would help the two faiths walk together not as enemies but as “fellow travelers.” |
| In what seemed to be a critique of political Islam, Francis warned against religion “being absorbed into the administration of temporal affairs and tempted by the allure of worldly powers that in fact exploit it.” | In what seemed to be a critique of political Islam, Francis warned against religion “being absorbed into the administration of temporal affairs and tempted by the allure of worldly powers that in fact exploit it.” |
| He added, “As religious leaders, we are called, therefore, to unmask the violence that masquerades as purported sanctity.” | He added, “As religious leaders, we are called, therefore, to unmask the violence that masquerades as purported sanctity.” |
| “We have an obligation to denounce violations of human dignity and human rights,” he said. | “We have an obligation to denounce violations of human dignity and human rights,” he said. |
| Francis also seemed to be pointing his message at the world powers. In a time where anti-establishment forces are gaining in Europe and the United States, the pope seemed to have a sharp message for Western leaders who have found electoral support in antagonizing Islam. “Demagogic forms of populism are on the rise. These certainly do not help to consolidate peace and stability,” he said. | |
| In an address to Mr. Sisi and a collection of political and civil authorities, Francis gently sought to encourage the authoritarian government’s progress in protecting Egypt’s religious minorities while at the same time making subtle, diplomatic but nevertheless clear allusions to the leader’s crackdown on human rights. | In an address to Mr. Sisi and a collection of political and civil authorities, Francis gently sought to encourage the authoritarian government’s progress in protecting Egypt’s religious minorities while at the same time making subtle, diplomatic but nevertheless clear allusions to the leader’s crackdown on human rights. |
| “Some minutes ago you told me that God is the God of liberty,” Pope Francis said turning to look at President Sisi, who sat on stage next to the pontiff. “And this is true.” | |
| After remarks by Mr. Sisi in front of the Egyptian and Vatican flags at Al Masah Hotel, the pope, speaking only minutes after a long address at Al Azhar’s conference, congratulated the Egyptian government on its efforts toward economic and social development. He recognized Mr. Sisi for having spoken “often” and “with a clarity” against a religious extremism that crushes diversity. But then he pointedly argued that “history does not forgive those who preach justice, but then practice injustice; history does not forgive those who talk about equality, but then discard those who are different.” | After remarks by Mr. Sisi in front of the Egyptian and Vatican flags at Al Masah Hotel, the pope, speaking only minutes after a long address at Al Azhar’s conference, congratulated the Egyptian government on its efforts toward economic and social development. He recognized Mr. Sisi for having spoken “often” and “with a clarity” against a religious extremism that crushes diversity. But then he pointedly argued that “history does not forgive those who preach justice, but then practice injustice; history does not forgive those who talk about equality, but then discard those who are different.” |
| Francis also called for the ensuring of “unconditional respect for inalienable human rights such as equality among all citizens, religious freedom and freedom of expression, without any distinction.” He argued that Egypt had a “unique role to play” as a bulwark against spreading violence in the region, “even as it is assaulted on its own soil by senseless acts of violence.” | Francis also called for the ensuring of “unconditional respect for inalienable human rights such as equality among all citizens, religious freedom and freedom of expression, without any distinction.” He argued that Egypt had a “unique role to play” as a bulwark against spreading violence in the region, “even as it is assaulted on its own soil by senseless acts of violence.” |
| After riding in a car along seemingly empty streets, Francis went to the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral festooned in banners hailing his arrival. There, the pope, wearing white, met with his counterpart, Tawadros, dressed in black, and said that their ever closer bond was “sustained, in mysterious and quite relevant way, by a genuine ecumenism of blood.” | |
| Speaking amid stone arches and gold-leafed frescoes, Francis continued, “How many martyrs in this land, from the first centuries of Christianity, have lived their faith heroically to the end, shedding their blood rather than deny the Lord and yielding to the enticements of evil, or merely to the temptation of repaying evil with evil!” | Speaking amid stone arches and gold-leafed frescoes, Francis continued, “How many martyrs in this land, from the first centuries of Christianity, have lived their faith heroically to the end, shedding their blood rather than deny the Lord and yielding to the enticements of evil, or merely to the temptation of repaying evil with evil!” |
| “Even in recent days,” he said to the cardinals and Orthodox clerics in attendance, “tragically, the innocent blood of defenseless Christians was cruelly shed: Their innocent blood unites us.” | “Even in recent days,” he said to the cardinals and Orthodox clerics in attendance, “tragically, the innocent blood of defenseless Christians was cruelly shed: Their innocent blood unites us.” |
| The two churches, which signed a Common Declaration in May 1973 to put “centuries of difficult history” behind them, indeed have a difficult past. | The two churches, which signed a Common Declaration in May 1973 to put “centuries of difficult history” behind them, indeed have a difficult past. |
| According to Christian tradition, the apostle Mark established the Coptic Church in Alexandria, Egypt, a decade or so after the death of Jesus. While the Coptic Orthodox Church shares many sacraments with the Catholic Church, including baptism, theological disagreements over the nature of Christ led the church to split from Rome in A.D. 451. Coptic Orthodox priests, who can marry, do not believe in papal infallibility or purgatory. | |
| Alberto Melloni, a historian of the church at the John XXIII Foundation for Religious Studies in Bologna, Italy, also noted that more than 1,000 years ago, when Egypt was a majority Christian country, the Muslims saved Egyptian Christians from Byzantine and other Christian powers that “would have destroyed them” were it not for the protection of Muslims who came to power with the seventh-century Muslim invasion. | Alberto Melloni, a historian of the church at the John XXIII Foundation for Religious Studies in Bologna, Italy, also noted that more than 1,000 years ago, when Egypt was a majority Christian country, the Muslims saved Egyptian Christians from Byzantine and other Christian powers that “would have destroyed them” were it not for the protection of Muslims who came to power with the seventh-century Muslim invasion. |
| He said he expected the pope’s message to be that Christians needed to now present a united front. “There has to be a message of fraternity,” he said. | He said he expected the pope’s message to be that Christians needed to now present a united front. “There has to be a message of fraternity,” he said. |
| And that is exactly the message Francis delivered. | |
| In the early centuries of Christianity, Egypt had a Christian majority. But in the 20th century, the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, two world wars and the rise of the Pan-Arab nationalist Gamal Abdel Nasser contributed to an environment in which some Coptic Orthodox Christians felt endangered and began to leave. | In the early centuries of Christianity, Egypt had a Christian majority. But in the 20th century, the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, two world wars and the rise of the Pan-Arab nationalist Gamal Abdel Nasser contributed to an environment in which some Coptic Orthodox Christians felt endangered and began to leave. |
| Egypt, a country of about 90 million, is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim today. An estimated 10 percent of the population is Christian, nearly all of whom belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church. A vast majority of the Jewish community, who once numbered in the tens of thousands, left in the mid-20th century. | Egypt, a country of about 90 million, is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim today. An estimated 10 percent of the population is Christian, nearly all of whom belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church. A vast majority of the Jewish community, who once numbered in the tens of thousands, left in the mid-20th century. |
| Muslims and Christians live peacefully in much of Egypt, and the country’s richest family, headed by a telecommunications magnate, Naguib Sawiris, is Orthodox Christian. But an ugly strain of sectarian prejudice runs though society, backed by discriminatory laws, which has at times led to violence. | Muslims and Christians live peacefully in much of Egypt, and the country’s richest family, headed by a telecommunications magnate, Naguib Sawiris, is Orthodox Christian. But an ugly strain of sectarian prejudice runs though society, backed by discriminatory laws, which has at times led to violence. |
| The worst trouble tends to occur in rural areas with large Christian populations, where Muslim mobs burned homes and attacked Christians as recently as last month. Christians complain that, when clashes occur, officials nearly always side with Muslims. More worrying still is the specter of attacks by militants. | The worst trouble tends to occur in rural areas with large Christian populations, where Muslim mobs burned homes and attacked Christians as recently as last month. Christians complain that, when clashes occur, officials nearly always side with Muslims. More worrying still is the specter of attacks by militants. |
| After the Arab Spring, Christians pressed for a secular, democratic state that would better protect minority rights. Many saw the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists as an ominous turn and were openly relieved by the military takeover that removed the Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi from power in 2013. | After the Arab Spring, Christians pressed for a secular, democratic state that would better protect minority rights. Many saw the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists as an ominous turn and were openly relieved by the military takeover that removed the Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi from power in 2013. |
| Mr. Sisi, who removed the Muslim Brotherhood from power, has pleased some in the Vatican with his efforts to better safeguard the rights of the Christian minority, though many remain troubled by his crackdowns on the Brotherhood and other political enemies. | Mr. Sisi, who removed the Muslim Brotherhood from power, has pleased some in the Vatican with his efforts to better safeguard the rights of the Christian minority, though many remain troubled by his crackdowns on the Brotherhood and other political enemies. |
| The bombings this month — and oppressive laws barring Christian converts from changing their religious affiliation on identity documents, and imposing stiff restrictions on church building — showed that Egypt is still a trying place for Christians to live. | The bombings this month — and oppressive laws barring Christian converts from changing their religious affiliation on identity documents, and imposing stiff restrictions on church building — showed that Egypt is still a trying place for Christians to live. |
| Perhaps most important, Mr. Sisi’s government has slowly removed extremist ideology from school books. But when it comes to Islamic formation, it is Al Azhar University, perhaps the most influential center of Sunni Muslim learning in the world, that is crucial. | Perhaps most important, Mr. Sisi’s government has slowly removed extremist ideology from school books. But when it comes to Islamic formation, it is Al Azhar University, perhaps the most influential center of Sunni Muslim learning in the world, that is crucial. |
| Al Azhar trains a vast number of the Muslim world’s imams and has oversight over more than two million children and an additional 400,000 university students around the country. | Al Azhar trains a vast number of the Muslim world’s imams and has oversight over more than two million children and an additional 400,000 university students around the country. |
| Mr. Sisi’s government, which has tightened its grip on Muslim religious institutions, funds Al Azhar and pays the salaries of many clerics. | Mr. Sisi’s government, which has tightened its grip on Muslim religious institutions, funds Al Azhar and pays the salaries of many clerics. |
| Mr. Sisi’s efforts to exert tight control over the affairs of Al Azhar are resented by many clerics, and have been a source of some tension. | Mr. Sisi’s efforts to exert tight control over the affairs of Al Azhar are resented by many clerics, and have been a source of some tension. |