Dissident priest offers own program to bridge gap between religions
CAIRO: President Hosni Mubarak on Tuesday said he would not intervene in the affairs of Egypt s Coptic Orthodox Church, after the controversial announcement by a priest to form a splinter Church. I do not intervene in religious affairs, Mubarak said in an interview with the state-owned daily Al-Messa. Copts are able to solve their own problems without any intervention, he said. On July 3, self-proclaimed Archbishop Maximus I announced plans to start appointing bishops around the country and split from the Coptic Orthodox Church. Mubarak stressed that when he spoke to Pope Shenuda III, who heads the Coptic Orthodox Church, it was only to welcome him back after a month of medical treatment abroad. Shenuda, leader of the Church since 1971, on Monday sought to play down the importance of the challenge by the dissident bishop, saying the Church was never harmed by the dangers threatening it and it will not be affected by this development. At a press conference on Tuesday, Maximus offered his own program of liturgical, social and cultural reforms, saying that his priority was to bridge the gap (between Christians and Muslims) and to re-establish the status of Copts as citizens, not a religious community. Maximus also defended divorce, which is banned by Shenuda s Church other than in exceptional circumstances. The 57 year-old Maximus, whose real name is Max Michel, has had friction with the Church, to which six to 10 percent of the 73 million Egyptians belong, since 1976. In 2004, he announced the creation of the Church of St. Athanasios and was ordained Archbishop by three U.S. Orthodox bishops in a church in Nebraska. AFP
