Pope steers clear of Abo Fana clashes
By Magdy Samaan
A woman touches Pope Shenouda III, as he blesses members of his congregation during his first public appearance at the Abbasiya cathedral in Cairo, on June 4, after an extended trip abroad for medical treatment. |
The Pope was expected to address the incident, which is thought to be a sectarian clash. He had cut his extended medical trip to the US short and returned to Cairo on Wednesday following the attack.
A source at the church told Daily News Egypt that Pope Shenouda is scheduled to visit the monks in the hospital in Cairo.
Father Poula Hanna, deputy of the Minya Patriarch, explained that the Pope didn’t comment because he didn’t have enough time before the meeting to gather enough information about the incident.
The Pope received a report from Bishop Demetrious of Malawi about the incident.
After he met with the Malawi Bishop, the Pope assigned two of his assistants to contact the authorities to follow up on investigations.
Meanwhile, Minya Governor Ahmed Diaa Eldin said that the committee which he formed to investigate the attack is to meet this Saturday. The meeting aims to settle the dispute between the Monastery and the Arab tribes over the land.
“I refused to hold reconciliation session before getting to the roots of this crisis, because it is now clear that bringing disputing parties to hug each other without solving the problem does not solve the problem,” Diaa Eldin told Daily News Egypt.
The governor said that all the parties involved, including church representative and local leaders, will participate in the meeting.
The solution they will reach, he continued, will be “binding.”
The clashes that took place on Saturday resulted in the death of one Muslim and left seven Copts, five of whom are monks, injured.
The clashes had erupted due to a wall being built around the monastery, which neighbors claimed would harm their crops.
A priest at the parish, Mussa Girgis, also claimed that three of the five injured monks were kidnapped and tortured after the attack.
The church decided to transfer the seven monks from Minya’s government hospital to a private hospital in Cairo, saying that the medical report of the hospital underestimated the monks' injuries.
Diaa Eldin stressed that the public prosecutor won’t let any criminal offence go unpunished.
Hanna, however, remains skeptical.
He told Daily News Egypt that the police did not file an official report about the kidnapping of the three monks, which would make the incident more difficult to document and, consequently, will not be referred to court.