Church Leaders. Photo by QCT
It’s not every day that the police stop the traffic at midday in the middle of the city for a few hundred church people.
Lt Colonel Ed Dawkins, Salvation Army and
Fr Taye Beneberu, Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
Photo by QCT
That is what happened in Brisbane on Friday, 22nd January, when the Coptic Orthodox Church, supported by leaders of several other churches, held a march from the Catholic Cathedral of St Stephen in Elizabeth Street to King George Square. Marching at the front with Father David Mahrous and Father James Skully of the Coptic Orthodox Church were Bishop Brian Finnigan (Auxiliary Bishop, Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane), Bishop Jonathan Holland (Bishop, Anglican Diocese of Brisbane), Rev. Bruce Johnson (Moderator of the Uniting Church, Queensland Synod), Lt Colonel Ed Dawkins of the Salvation Army, Rev. Fr. John Abdel-Karim of the Antiochian Orthodox Church, Fr Taye Beneberu of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Rev. Fr Dany Akiki PP of the Maronite Catholic Church. The General Secretary of Queensland Churches Together, Glenine Hamlyn, also took part.
Christmas massacre
The six mock coffins carried along the route signified the reason for the march, namely the killing of six young Coptic men in Nag Hammadi, Egypt, and the wounding of many other people, when attackers opened fire on a group of worshippers leaving the church after midnight mass on 7 January, the Orthodox celebration of the Nativity (Christmas). The attack was carried out in response to the alleged rape of a twelve-year-old Muslim girl by a Christian man. A few individuals then decided to take justice into their own hands in the most brutal way.
The Coptic Orthodox Church traces its history as far back as the missionary activity of St Mark. Some Coptic Orthodox churches in Egypt are built on the foundations of churches dating back to the fourth century CE. In recent years Coptic Christians have been subject to various forms of serious harassment, with churches and homes being burnt and people killed and injured. Access to proper education and employment is systematically denied.
Petition
When a suffering minority is synonymous with a particular religious community, it can easily look like a war of the religions. This oversimplification masks the fact that entrenched cultural factors, political power games and legislative discrimination frequently form part of a much more complex picture. In recognition of the broader dimensions of this conflict, the Coptic Orthodox community in Brisbane distributed a petition to be delivered to representatives of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, urging Australia’s representatives to impress upon the government of Egypt the necessity of separating religion and state in that country, as well as other policy changes designed to remove laws and practices that discriminate against Coptic Christians.
Coptic Orthodox Church March. Photo by QCT
It was humbling to see members of the Coptic community in Brisbane carrying banners quoting bible verses advocating love and forgiveness. How easy is it to forgive when your family has been attacked and life is lived in constant fear? Or when your children are denied a good education? At the same time the chants of “Enough is enough” revealed the marchers’ frustration at the ongoing denial of human rights to which their community in Egypt is subjected.
Coptic Orthodox Church Deacons.
Photo by QCT
QCT ecumenical service
The march was preceded by an ecumenical prayer service organized by Queensland Churches Together in liaison with Father David Mahrous and held in the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St Stephen. It was attended by the heads of churches named above, as well as a large contingent from the Coptic community and several other people who came to express their support. Prayers for peace delivered by church leaders focused on the person of Jesus as the bringer of compassion, reconciliation and healing. In his homily Bishop Brian Finnigan mentioned other suffering Christian minorities e.g. in Pakistan. Glenine Hamlyn noted in her words of welcome that peacemaking is at the heart of the gospel and that it is in fact at the core of all major religions.
When in 2001 a mosque was set alight in Brisbane in an ugly response to 9/11, church leaders and other Christians were quick to rally behind the affected Muslim community, whose members were fearful of leaving their homes. Both cases demonstrate that it is vital for Christians to stand up for those who fall victim of extremists who target the innocent – whatever community the victims belong to.
