A number of Copts who were part of the conventional reconciliation session held two days ago in Ayaat have voiced anger towards Pope Shenouda and the Orthodox Church, because of their stance on the crisis of Behma describing his reaction as indifferent to their feelings as some angry youth gathered at the Cathedral.
The priest of Virgin Mary Church in Ayat, Anmabius Yaacoub, said this crisis was not a new development, blaming the Copts for not being able to express their demands clearly and openly so they do not fall under the mercy of those in charge.
Anmabius criticized the agreement that was reached in the reconciliation session concerning the establishment of a place of worship for service only without a cross, an altar, a dome, or a bell, adding that the Copts accepted the agreement only for fear of being accused of stirring up sedition, and disloyalty to the country.
“Pope Shenouda's directions to accept the agreement came to highlight the words of Christ 'In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world'."
Reverend Seraphim Marcus, priest of the Marmina Church in al-Saff, said the Christian public were not satisfied with what happened, demanding the establishment of a church in Ayaat where full rituals could be exercised. He indicated that the people of Ayaat were still threatened and that the government had not said a word to reassure the Copts.
Meanwhile, Reverend Hanna Makin of Virgin Mary Church ruled out the possibility that this incident would recur in Ayaat, but wondered about the harm one church could do in a village where 13 mosques already exist.
Amid a state of anger on the part of the Coptic youth during their congregation in the Cathedral two days ago, Pope Shenouda, in his weekly address, touched upon the crisis of Ayaat intimating that he had received many questions concerning the crisis. He added that: “If the officials hushed up about it, the Lord is not going to let us down”.
During their presence in the Cathedral, a number of youth said: “the Pope wanted to send a political message to the effect that he is still the strongest among the Copts and that he is the one who is in control”. They condemned what they described as inattention to their feelings.
Some of them handed out leaflets denouncing the Church's position. The leaflet was signed the 'Martyrs of Christ in Giza'.
They attached to the leaflet an article written by Pope Shenouda before he assumed the papacy, in which he strongly came down on the government because of the sectarian sedition which took place in Suez in 1952 saying that the attack on the Copts could not take place unless in the barbaric countries or in the pagan savage eras.
The young Copts called on the Pope to return to his past opinions, hold on to the rights of the Copts, and not throw them away for a worldly position, maintaining that this is what he was entrusted with when he assumed the papacy.
The Prosecution to Close the Case if 11 Victims Accept the Reconciliation
Sami Abdel Rady, Ahmed Abdel Latif
Ayaat prosecution subpoenaed 11 Christians who were injured in the sectarian sedition events in the village of Behma to rehear their statements, find out if they endorsed the reconciliation or not, and record all this in the prosecution investigation report of the case.
Al-Masry Al-Youm knew that the case will be closed on grounds of reconciliation in case the victims accept it. However, if anyone of them refused, the procedures of the suit would be resumed, and the accused would be referred to a criminal trial.
Investigations in this case are being conducted by Sheriff Mamdouh, the Chief Prosecutor of Ayaat, and a team of prosecutors including Amr Ahmed Saleh, Amro Othman, Ibrahim Salama, Ahmed Hijazi, and Osama Seif.
Furthermore, the prosecution released ten new defendants in the case after hearing their statements according to the charges leveled at them by the victims. In their statements, the defendants denied that they had participated in the events, maintaining that they were outside the village at the time of the incident.
Meanwhile, after the traditional session held two days ago afternoon and attended by more than 90 Muslims and 60 Christians amid total absence of the police, silence prevailed in the village of Behma.
In a phone call, Archbishop Ayub Hakim told al-Masry al-Youm that: “the six Christian defendants accused of extremism and intolerance have nothing to do with the incidents.
" In addition, he demanded that the security forces stay in the village. MP Ali al-Saudi said that the Governor of Giza had sent his deputy, Gen. Mohamed Yassin, accompanied by the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Social Affairs in Giza, to compensate the Christian families who were severely afflicted by the incident provided that the two parties commit themselves to the penalty clause of LE 200,000.
