Egypt's Copts expressed their feelings about the confusion in the country's political life during Easter celebrations at St Mark's Cathedral in Abbasiya this year, amid a strong presence from political forces and senior state officials. Copts attending the Easter mass at the Cathedral gave the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Ahmed Al-Tayeb a standing ovation when Pope Tawadros II, pope of Alexandria and patriarch of the Saint Mark Episcopate, thanked Al-Tayeb for wishing the Copts a Happy Easter. The congregation applauded for several minutes, while some officials and artists stood up in appreciation and to send a message of support to counter any attempts to weaken his role in Egypt and the Arab region. Defence Minister Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi was also loudly applauded when Pope Tawadros thanked him for his attendance, and there was applause all around for the presidents of the country's political parties who were also at the ceremony. However, no one clapped for President Mohamed Morsi and Prime Minister Hisham Kandil when the pope thanked them for sending their greetings. This was a clear symbol of Coptic anger at the policies of the president and the government towards the Copts. Judge Ahmed Al-Zend, chair of the Judges Club, earned special applause in appreciation of his stand against Islamist currents in the country, with the pope noting the “warm and clear appreciation of the congregation”. Sheikh Mazhar Shahin, the “cleric of the revolution” and imam of the Omar Makram Mosque in Cairo's Tahrir Square, was also loudly applauded and the audience gave actor Adel Imam a standing ovation when he and actress Elham Shahin stood up to show their appreciation. Everyone who attended or watched the Easter mass on satellite television will have registered that when Pope Tawadros acknowledged the greetings of the president, who had sent Housing Minister Tarek Wafik to represent him, there was no applause. No one appreciated the greetings sent by Kandil either, who had sent Minister of Higher Education Mustafa Mosaad and a representative from the Interior Ministry to represent him. After the mass, Imam told Al-Ahram Weekly that an earlier religious edict banning expressing Easter wishes to the Copts was “disgraceful”. He said that the country's artists were upset about what had happened to actress Shahin and welcomed the one-year jail sentence against Abdallah Badr, both involved in an earlier controversy. On Easter Day itself, Pope Tawadros received well-wishers at the papal residence in Cairo, including Kandil, a five-member military delegation headed by Assistant Defence Minister Mohamed Al-Assar and several cabinet members. The latter included Minister of Scientific Research Nadia Zakhari, Minister of Labour and Emigration Khaled Al-Azhari, Minister of Local Development Mohamed Ali, the then State Minister for Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim, the then Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Ashraf Al-Arabi and Minister of Interior Mohamed Ibrahim. There was also a police delegation made up of 12 major generals led by first assistant to the minister of the interior Major General Osama Al-Sagheer. Several former cabinet members were also present, including Yehia Al-Gamal, Ahmed Darwish, Ali Meselhi, Faiza Abul-Naga, Tarek Kamel, Ahmed Zaki Badr and Adli Hussein. Three days before Easter, some Coptic activists had launched a campaign on social networking sites entitled “Do not invite murderers to the Cathedral”, demanding that the invitations to Morsi, Kandil, and Shura Council Chair Ahmed Fahmi be withdrawn. The activists also demanded that the pope should cancel the Easter celebrations and limit them to prayers as a way of protesting against the harsh attacks against the Copts. “Since Morsi, his people and his clan came to power in the ‘emirate of Egypt', we have suffered systematic discrimination by him and his group,” the activists declared. “Therefore, we demand the fathers of our Church to respect our feelings and not invite murderers to the Church.” A source inside Church headquarters told the Weekly that Church protocol required inviting senior state officials to the mass. “The doors of the Church never close in the face of anyone,” the source said. “It is unacceptable to be hostile to any faction or party or the president himself and his government,” he said, adding that the Church celebrated Easter no matter what pain and harassment it suffered. Several Muslim volunteers organised peaceful gatherings outside the Cathedral's main gate and in the courtyard of the church where mass took place. They raised signs mocking former president Hosni Mubarak on his birthday, saying “Bad Birthday, Prisoner” outside the Cathedral. Muslims also gathered with flowers outside the main hall of the church as a symbol of national unity between Muslims and Christians. One veiled woman holding a sign said “your presence among us is the best thing for Egypt. We are all in Egypt, and we say with one breath, Happy Easter.” The crowd chanted, “One hand, Muslims and Christians, one hand. Egypt is for all Egyptians,” adding that Egypt's Copts and Muslims were one fabric that could never be torn apart. The pickets were in response to some Islamist hardliners who had decreed that the Copts should not be congratulated on the religious celebrations. Copts were taken by surprise around the country when members of the “I want to tell you I love you” movement sponsored gatherings to congratulate Christians on Palm Sunday and Easter, in a move calculated to reject the sectarianism that is alien to Egyptian society and in response to edicts by the Muslim Brotherhood not to congratulate the Copts. One member of the movement said that “we came and handed out flowers and we will spite our enemies.” Participants held signs declaring “my Christian brother, I want to tell you I love you and will always love you. I am willing to sacrifice my life for you. I am standing here because I love you unconditionally. Celebrations are better when we are together.” Several Muslims asked the Copts how Christians could celebrate Easter, now that the Brotherhood was ruling the country. “What's this Easter play that you applaud and then are so joyful after it ends,” one man asked. A leader of the Church explained that the play was “enjoyed by young and old and depicts the resurrection in a simplified way”. “It begins by turning off the lights to mark the end of Holy Week. Then the gate of the temple is closed and a deacon stands outside to assist the priest with the rituals. He recites words and phrases in harmony that indicate the resurrection of Christ, and a senior priest responds from inside the temple.” “Then he knocks on the gate, and it opens, and the lights come on as a signal of the glorious resurrection of Christ.”
