LThe first thing that catches the eye when walking along Mar Girgis Street is a large building with numerous friezes surrounding a central arch decorated with epigraphic motifs, colored diamonds and multiple medallions. The Coptic Museum has stood in the middle of the Old Cairo district since 1910. Once through the gates, the visitor is transported to other centuries. A single look is enough to realize the multitude of civilizations that have coexisted there.
Alas, I had very little time to discover this architectural gem. It is April 18, 2016 and we are visiting the museum at full speed with the president of the time, François Hollande. I was part of the press delegation that accompanied him on a two-day trip to Egypt and Jordan. The Head of State wanted to salute the spirit of resistance of the Copts and, through them, that of Eastern Christians. Their story has always fascinated me. Without abandoning anything of their culture, these Christian communities were able to overcome the worst persecutions by engraving their faith in the stone of history.
The history of a people
The museum tells the story of the arrival of Christianity in Egypt. All the works on display symbolize the story of one of the oldest Christian communities. Each room offers a breathtaking spectacle with woodwork from another time, very fine moucharabiehs and ceramics in a thousand colors. We were admiring all these ornaments when a prayer was heard. It was a song of praise in the Coptic language which referred to the chants of the time of the pharaohs.
The intonations were not very far from the prayers in Islam who rocked my Tunisian childhood. Dressed in black, a Coptic Orthodox priest with a long gray beard walks towards the delegation to greet the president. The two men spoke for a few minutes before an advisor ordered François Hollande to go to the microphone installed in the center of the courtyard to deliver his speech. As usual, he was late and we absolutely had to return to the hotel to stop before dinner at the palace of Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi.
“From Egypt to Antioch, Christians are on their lands”
As the French president began his speech, the priest came to meet me. Ten years later, I remember every word of our conversation. He wanted to explain to me how his personal history was intertwined with that of his people. In a calm tone, he told me that the Copts of Egypt and more broadly the Christians of the East were not forgotten peoples. “Our Church seems lost in a distant East, yet it is not a little sister of the Western Churches, it is on the contrary, one of the mothers of Christianity. Let us not forget that Christianity, often understood as a Western religion, is originally an Eastern religion. I do not consider myself a little brother lost in the East but as an older brother of Christians around the world. » And to continue: “We are at home here with the Muslims. From Egypt to the Semitic world symbolized by the city of Antioch, Christians are also on their lands. As long as we are present, there will still be some hope and religious diversity. »
Testament of love
Concerning the multiple persecutions suffered by his people, he explained to me that he had neither the strength nor the desire to live in hatred: “Our responsibility is to love because our Messiah asked us for this testament of love. » Faced with my skepticism about forgiving those who carry the sword and spread blood, the priest whose first name I only know, Younan, told me that the only example to follow is none other than that of Christ, also persecuted and crucified.
He also cited the deacon Saint Stephen who had said to his persecutors: “Lord, do not count this sin against them. » Our conversation ended twenty minutes later with a sentence that I will never forget. “I always wish for Ramadan mabrouk to my Muslim friends who responded to me on December 24: “Merry Christmas!” As long as this reciprocity exists a little, I will remain hopeful”he concluded, greeting me warmly.
This is why it is important to me to wish Merry Christmas even if it is not in my culture or my religion. Thinking of these Eastern Christians and Father Younan, I wish you all from the bottom of my heart a Merry Christmas.
