WATANI International
11 April 2010
Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit on Sunday 21 March opened the Darfur Reconstruction Conference, held under the co-chairmanship of Egypt and Turkey in cooperation with the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC). In his inaugural speech, the top Egyptian diplomat said that since the start of the Darfur crisis Egypt had faith that the issue was in the first place one of development on all political, social and tribal dimensions.
The conference calls to mind the Egyptian-Sudanese Archpriest Filotheus Farag of al-Shaheedein (the ‘Two Martyrs’) Church in Khartoum. As an ambassador for peace, Fr Filotheus performed a leading role in the efforts aimed at reconciliation in Darfur. He wrote 21 books advocating love and acceptance of the ‘other’, and whenever he attends any event his eloquence and deep insight impresses his audience, however sophisticated and highly educated they might be. On a recent visit to Cairo, Watani seized the opportunity and had a long talk with Fr Filotheus.
Friendly climate
Fr Filotheus was born in the town of Samalout in Minya, Upper Egypt. “The way I was raised had a great influence on my personality,” he told us. “Since I was a little child, my father taught me to love and respect all people. He made it his business to know all about what I learned at Sunday School or read in newspapers and religious books. He was open-minded and fond of reading, which I caught from him.
“When I was just 13, I was lucky to have a Sunday School teacher who was the first to teach me to simplify religious and theological information. I had Muslim friends and we used to exchange books and newspapers, since none of us had the financial resources needed to buy all the books we wanted. We learned how to co-exist and respect one another. Back then the climate induced more and better friendship between people of different religions.”
Co-existence, even if different
Fr Filotheus believes there are a host of common denominators binding Christians and Muslims. First and foremost is the belief in the One Living God. Both religions promote virtue and condemn vice. “As for areas of disagreement, it should be clear that none of each has the right to interfere in the other’s belief. I cherish my own faith and respect that of others. We stress the need for coexistence, for there does not exist one single religion in our world, and because it is the will of God that we tolerate and respect one another’s culture notwithstanding the differences,” he said.
Christianity in the eyes of Muslims
In his 20-chapter book Al-Masihiyya fi Oyoun al-Muslimeen (Christianity in the eyes of Muslims), Fr Filotheus recounts the common denominators between Christianity and Islam. By the end of this month, the book will appear under a new title: Al-widd wal-Ihtiram bayna al-Masiheyya wal-Islam (Compassion and respect between Christianity and Islam), and will be published among the books of Maktabat al-Usra (The Family Library), the project undertaken under the auspices of Mrs Suzanne Mubarak to make books affordable and accessible to people with limited means.
Hassan Mekki, professor of African studies, says Fr Filotheus has shown that One Living God in Islam is an equivalent of the Trinity in One of Christianity.
Dr al-Tayeb Zein al-Abedeen, secretary of Sudanese Religious Co-existence Council, said the book represented a serious effort to address religious conceptions that tempered the relationship between Muslims and Christians, including the claims that the Bible had been distorted and Christians were apostates.
The way to Sudan
Fr Filotheus studied at the Clerical College. “When I was studying at the seminary in 1959, I realised the importance of serving in Africa,” he said. “After graduation in 1963, I went to Sudan to serve in the villages there and joined the Faculty of Arts of Cairo University’s Khartoum branch. I also studied sociology and taught English and Christianity in Coptic schools at the same time. I graduated with honours and was offered a job as a teaching assistant, but the archbishop of Sudan, Anba Danial, wished to ordain me as a priest. Since I was wary of joining the clerical establishment, I declined his call using numerous pretexts. But he finally succeeded in persuading me and in 1969 I became a priest at al-Shaheedein Church in Khartoum.”
Fr Filotheus began to publish articles in Sudanese newspapers in 1963. He wrote for the three government-owned newspapers (al-Ayyam, al-Sahafa and al-Ra’y al-Am) on religious occasions. In 1985, he began to write for al-Siyassa newspaper on a weekly basis, also editing a page that included Christian writings and pictures of Jesus. No one ever objected to what he wrote. Then he became a prominent media figure, writing for five newspapers and presented programmes on Sudanese radio and TV. Interestingly, Fr Filotheus represented the Sudanese government in the Human Rights Conference in Vienna in June 1993.
Peace ambassador
The Federation for World Peace in Kenya, interested in the dialogue between religions, chose Fr Filotheus to be an ambassador for peace. Sudanese Minister of Culture Abdel-Basset al-Magued said: “For Fr Filotheus, peace is a life mission. He was a messenger of peace in Sudan and abroad, and played a significant role in mending fences between Egypt and Sudan following the failed attempt to assassinate President Mubarak in Addis Ababa.”
About his role in the Egyptian-Sudanese reconciliation process, Fr Filotheus said that “following the incident, I contacted Amin Huweidi, the presidency official, and told him about my willingness to intervene. He agreed that I should play a role. Then I managed to convince President Omar Bashir to attend the Cairo Arab summit. As President Mubarak was receiving him at the airport, I came close of His Excellency and called upon him to resolve the crisis that day and he accepted.”
Darfur war
Fr Filotheus is a member of a committee assigned with settling the Darfur dispute. He was chosen among ten figures to offer a proposal for a settlement in the war-torn region. “The problem was that some tribes were armed while the government was reluctant to recognise the problem. We offered five recommendations which, if followed, the problem could have been resolved. The most important of these was that the regime had to admit there was a crisis; the system of native administration should be restored, meaning that the elders and prominent tribal figures should work to bring a semblance of normality to the lives of the region’s people; and those whose properties were plundered should be compensated.”
Mohamed al-Amin Khalifa, speaker of the Transitional National Assembly, said Fr Filotheus managed to transcend the legacy of hatred through his loving spirit. “He was never biased to this or that party, this is why he was chosen to be a peace ambassador.”
As for the criticism frequently levelled at him concerning his close relationship with the Sudanese ruling regime, Fr Filotheus says: “this is my government and I am committed to it although I sometimes criticise it out of care and love.”
Egyptian issues
Fr Filotheus says that there is no religious fanaticism in Sudan. “No church was ever attacked,” he says. “The war in South Sudan has nothing to do with religion; it was all about the unfair distribution of resources. In Sudan there is no Humayuni Edict to put the licensing of new churches in the president’s hands alone, and the law does not obstruct the establishment of churches. The restoration of churches takes place easily and smoothly here.”
Abdel-Hadi Omar Tamim, senior expert with Khartoum International Arabic Language Institute says that “Fr Filotheus was an MP for eight years. He is now a peace ambassador. He was a consultant to the Sudanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, and wrote many articles for Sudanese newspapers. He was honoured by a plethora of organisations.”
Ahmed Bilal al-Tayeb, former chairman of the board of Akhbar Al-Youm, met Fr Filotheus some 30 years ago. He dubbed him ‘the man whose smile never leaves his face and who is widely popular with the Sudanese’.