Rev. Refaat Fikri: Egypt Has No Political Will to Protect Copts

By MidEast Christian News, Thursday, May 16, 2013

Rev. Refaat Fikri, head of the Media Center for the Evangelical Church in Egypt, said the problems facing Egyptian Christians have been going on since the 1970s and looks to continue as there is a lack of political will by the ruling regime to solve them.

This came in response to the initiative launched on Wednesday by the Building and Development Party, the political arm of Gamaat Islamiyya under the title "A Unified Nation."

It aims to "strengthen the national fabric and maintain strong relations among all Muslim and Christian communities of the Egyptian society."

Rev. Fikri said the initiative by Gamaat Islamiyya and its party is only a courtship to foreign countries and a message to the United States and European countries that the group supports religious freedoms and human rights, reported Mideast Christian News.

Fikri believes there is no serious intention to solve the problems of Copts because the crises have been recognized for decades and have been repeatedly discussed.

The head of the Media Center said the dialogue must be a political dialogue among political parties and the church should not play a role.

"As long as the initiative is made by a political party, the Church should not participate in such a dialogue because it is against mixing politics with religion, and the political parties and its Christian members are the ones who can decide to accept or refuse participation in the dialogue," Fikri said.

Rev. Fikri added that it is possible for the church not to comment on this initiative officially.