01-09-2011 - Traces, n. 8

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history and the “I”

Egypt, the Promised Land
Following on the experience of the Cairo Meeting last fall, an encounter between some protagonists of the Egyptian world was organized at the Rimini Meeting. The Patriarch, Antonios Naguib, explains why this possibility of dialogue is “surprising,” and what he learned during his week there.

by Alessandra Stoppa

At the table, just after the session, I was thinking about something the Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria, Cardinal Antonios Naguib, had said: “The dawn happens before the eyes of man.” Things begin to be clear; they are not painless and straightforward, but they are closer; you can approach them. In the same way, now some of the protagonists of present-day Egypt are facing each other, after one of the events most anticipated at this Rimini Meeting (entitled, “Egypt: Beauty, the Space of Dialogue”), which included these interlocutors: the President of Al Azhar University, Usamah Elabed; Abdel-Fattah Hassan, former member of Parliament for the Muslim Brotherhood; the President of the South Cairo Court, Hosam Mekkawy; Bishop Armiah, Secretary of Pope Shenouda III, leader of the Orthodox Copts; and Patriarch Neguib, who was seated, astounded, at the table, saying, “If we had tried to come to an agreement, we would never have found the same wavelength.”
What happened?
The main vision was unanimous; it was a meeting that converged toward the same concept of country–an Egypt founded on the centrality of man. It is surprising that every one of us spoke essentially of this.

Is this kind of approach not taken for granted?
Not at all–above all, in our countries, with a Muslim majority. For Islam, there is no state religion; religion and state are one, so social questions and politics are mixed up with faith and dogma. The former are not absolute, while the latter are. This confusion leads to consequences we all know.

In your address, you said, “It was easy to change the regime. Now, we ourselves have to change.”
It is a matter of how you look at things. Everything begins when I look at a person for what he is, when I see him for what he truly is, “my brother.” It is a change all must make; it is not something already achieved, even for us. We have to regain this openness ourselves first, and it is not easy. This approach is an opening: only if our heart is open to Christ’s heart can our mind and affections open–to love the other, then understand him, accept him, and welcome him. These are all consequences.

Have your faith and your vocation changed during this time?
My trust has grown; in spite of what scares us, history will follow the direction of God’s plan of salvation. My heart has no doubt about this; everything proceeds according to God’s plan, which passes through trials. And this is, first of all, the acceptance of the other who is different.
Why does your trust in God’s
plan of salvation grow?
Because of all that has happened up to now, starting with the history of the chosen people, in which God always finds the way of transforming bad into good; then, the New Testament, and the history of the Church. Even today, despite all the relativism, nihilism, and personalism, you just have to look at the movements aroused by the Holy Spirit. What gives life to the Rimini Meeting is a shining example.

Why?
Because it is not a game. You don’t get 7, 000 people in a hall at Mass or at a talk just for a game! There are volunteers who offer their money and their effort–this is not a game, it is a certainty of love for God, for Christ, and for man.

It’s your first visit, and you stayed the whole week. Why?
I never take a week off, but I have touched CL in my country and I said to myself, “Here is something I have to get to know, to learn.”

What?
It is an interior inspiration, the presence of God for hearts, which is translated externally in the commitment you take up. Here at the Meeting, it has a specific and concentrated expression, but it is aimed at the whole of life. The presence of young Egyptian volunteers is something wonderful for me. We have already prepared a report for the Catholic press in Egypt. These young people are the promise for the formation of a new social fabric, of a country that is free. They translate into experience the ideal we want to live.