The head of the Egyptian Coptic Church, Pope Shenouda III, urged all Arab countries on Sunday to unite in order to combat Israel’s policy of aggression.
Shenouda, who spoke at a news conference at the Bristol Hotel, is here at the invitation of the Armenian Orthodox Church, which this weekend commemorates 1,700 years since Christianity was taken as that state’s official religion.
Shenouda said Arab unity is vital for facing Israel, as the Jewish state “depends on any Arab division, or any kind of weakness, more than its own weapons to fight us.”
“Israel’s aggressive policy has no limits,” Shenouda said. “Their greed and expectations are very high.”
Asked if he had discussed any of the country’s domestic issues with religious officials here, Shenouda refused to comment, saying: “No foreign personality outside your country should judge your internal relationships.”
However, he said countries “like Lebanon and Syria” should solve their differences, as problems between them can only benefit Israel. He also said he was aware of the special nature of the relationship between Beirut and Damascus. “All I want to say is that I hope your problems are solved,” he said, “especially since there is a common enemy.”
Shenouda then thanked God for last May’s Israeli withdrawal, adding that he hoped “it will be permanent and complete.”
He also said he hoped Israel would withdraw from the Golan Heights, Palestine and other occupied Arab countries.
Asked about his own evaluation of the present status of churches in the country, he said its importance continues to be the same as in the past.
“In my opinion, there should be no difference between the presence of Christians as Christians and their national belonging,” he said.
“Christians should consider themselves part of the country they live in and not consider themselves independent.”
He then said emigration was not a problem limited solely to Christians. “Muslims, as well as other sects,” are leaving, he said.
Regardless of how many go, however, Shenouda said that “what is important is the active presence and not the number present in the country.”
Regarding unifying the celebration of Easter, Shenouda said it was “not a religious problem.” Rather he attributed the difference to a gap between the Nubian and Gregorian calendars, a discrepancy which is growing by some 11 minutes each year.
“God, in the last day, won’t judge us for the day we celebrated,” he said, “but for the pureness of our hearts and the truth of our beliefs.”
Talking about the Copts’ relationship with Muslims in Egypt, Shenouda was careful to differentiate between moderates and “extremists.”
“In Egypt, we have a strong brotherhood with moderate Muslims and we work together for the good of the country,” he said.
“The extremists, however, are against the moderate Muslims and the government, too.”
As for his weekend meeting with Aram I Keshishian, the catholicos of the House of Cilicia, Shenouda said that “we, as religious men, always meet to ensure similar church policies.”
On Sunday, Shenouda laid the cornerstone for the St. Antonius Coptic monastery in the Barbara area of Jbeil.