Hope for terrorized Christians of Egypt

Apr 22, 2017

By Bruno Frappat
Palm Sunday this year was not decked with green spring foliage representing Christ’s triumphal journey into Jerusalem to meet his glory and tragedy.

Instead, in Egypt, it was coloured by the blood of dozens of Coptic martyrs in Tanta and Alexandria, slaughtered in the madness of two ISIS kamikazes.

It was an indiscriminate but efficient massacre, the result of methodical planning, executed by savages hidden away in their retreats in the Sinai, in northern Syria, or in the ruins of Iraq, near Mosul.

There were dozens of mutilated bodies; women, children, elderly people, who had come to the church to seek refuge from their day-to-day worries in these troubled times.

What is there left for hope in the wake of such an event, a tragedy that could so easily inspire vengeful thoughts in those confronted with such evil that God has allowed to be committed against his own?

What fragment of joy is there to be found in this infernal scene of dereliction?

“Why have you abandoned us?” This is the kind of question you hear, here on earth. We are sometimes left to wonder if it isn’t simply a rough draft of what the great creator intended.

Where can hope be found? In the same way, as we imagine a place for the human spirit, our sense of taste, or emotion, what place is there for hope? When the world outside makes us despair, hope has only one refuge, and that is inside us. It resides in the intimate relationship that we have with life, beyond hardship and pain.

It must be close to the place where human will resides, for they seem so closely entwined. What other territory is there for hope without a determined will to believe in the future?

The future is always before us. We are likely to hear this again from the great Pope Francis when he visits the Copts this week-end.

For centuries, the Copts have been our “separate brothers” but with whom we should demonstrate brotherly solidarity at all times.

We should cry alongside them, our tears for their blood.

These Copts are poor and humble, yet they are targeted by Islamist fanatics armed with Kalashnikovs.

They know that the authorities are incapable of protecting them, even if they wanted to. But that would run the risk of angering the Muslim Brotherhood, the Egypt-based fraternity behind so many atrocities.

The survivours had gathered again on Easter Sunday to celebrate the resurrection, which is the greatest source of hope for them.

Hope is not only about will and faith, but also about human solidarity. One cannot hope alone. Friendship, a hand held out, a smile, open arms and demonstrations of clear joy rather than closed fists from our part will give those suffering dark times in the East new reasons to believe and hope in the spirit of Easter.

Easter brings the eternal promise of resurrection and the reconciliation of every person with his or her brothers and sisters.

Those who have been massacred, those who have disappeared, those grieving and the deceased all reach out to one another across earthly boundaries to illuminate our common path.

They embody the trembling strength of hope, despite all that has been endured.--La Croix