Pope Tawadros wrapped up his five-day visit to Kuwait with a press conference and a formal dinner with his Kuwaiti hosts.
The Pope began his press conference by thanking his host Prince Sheikh al-Sabah al-Ahmad for his gracious hospitality, also members of the Kuwaiti royal family, Speaker of the parliament, and Prime Minister. He expressed his deep appreciation of Kuwaitis as a kind, tolerant people.
Terrorism and terrorist thought
In reply to question on terrorism in Egypt and the targeting of Copts, Pope Tawadros replied that terrorism is a malady that infects the nation, but that the normal condition of the nation is not one of illness but of good health. “Egypt will go back to being healthy,” he said. “A lot of efforts are being exerted to that end.”
He explained that the attacks against Copts are in the first place meant to target Egypt through sowing pain, division and discontent. “But Egypt’s long history of co-existence testifies to a strong national fabric that will not give way to attempts at division,” he insisted.
The Pope pointed out that extremist thought which spread hate was much more perilous than the terrorist operations themselves since it had the potential of producing terrorists and nurturing terrorism.
The Pope was asked about what was being done to battle terrorism-fostering thought in Egypt. The most important front on which to battle terrorism and terrorist thought, he said, was education. In this respect, he explained, a new book has been prepared in order to be included in the school curriculum, on ethics and citizenship. “I was among those who contributed input to that book,” he said, “as did Muslim scholars and clerics.”
Extremist thought may also be fought through culture, Pope Tawadros said. “On this visit,” he said, “I visited Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad Cultural centre and was made familiar with the activities it offers. I found them quite similar to those we offer through our Youth Bishopric, which made me think that it would be a good idea to cooperate and collaborate on joint activities. I believe the benefit would be vast.”
Forced eviction of Christians
The Pope was asked about the plight of Arab Christians who had been forced to flee their homelands owing to threats and violence against them by Islamists that overran their countries in the wake of the Arab Spring. He was also asked about the Copts who had to flee their North Sinai hometown of al-Arish last March under the same pretext. He expressed his pain and sympathy at the loss of much of the Arab Christian population since without them, he said, their countries can no longer be the same. “Christian Arabs are not outsiders who came in to reside in these lands,” he said. “They have for ages been part and parcel of the original population, and losing them would forever change the nature of their nations. The first losers on this account would be the all-Muslim population that would be left behind should all the Christians leave.”
As to the Copts of Arish, the Pope said, their situation was altogether different from other Arab Christians. They were internally displaced because of Islamist attacks, but they fled to other parts of Egypt where they are well taken care of by the local Churches, government, and the public. Their situation is closer to that of the residents of other towns in Egypt that had to be evacuated under emergency conditions, but were able to go back home later once the crises requiring their eviction subsided. This happened with the populations of the towns on the banks of the Suez Canal during the war with Israel in 1967 – 1973. But they later returned home and resumed their lives.
Pope Francis
When asked about the upcoming visit of Pope Francis to Egypt on 28, 29 April, Pope Tawadros explained that Egyptians, including Copts, are elated at the visit of this man of peace, hence the slogan: “Pope of peace in land of peace”. He said it was a return visit to one back in May 2013 “when I visited him in Rome”. The Pope said that everyone in Egypt was excited about Pope Francis’s visit which was expected to bear good fruit.
Watani International
27 April 2017