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The Pope's exile in 1981
Hi everyone! I should introduce myself seeing as how this is my first post. My name is Dena and I'm a literary journalism major at the Universtiy of California, Irvine.
For one of my senior projects in my historical storytelling class, I have to research a historical event and build an article around it. I decided to write about the Pope's exile under Anwar Sadat in 1981. I was wondering if anyone in this forum would know which books the Pope published during that time (I know there were 3) and if any letters or addresses were published while he was there -- even if they're in arabic.
And if there's any additional information on the topic that you know of, that would be really helpful too! I hope to get this article published at some point so any help would be much appreciated. Thanks everyone and God bless!
(Oh and please please pray for me!) :)
For one of my senior projects in my historical storytelling class, I have to research a historical event and build an article around it. I decided to write about the Pope's exile under Anwar Sadat in 1981. I was wondering if anyone in this forum would know which books the Pope published during that time (I know there were 3) and if any letters or addresses were published while he was there -- even if they're in arabic.
And if there's any additional information on the topic that you know of, that would be really helpful too! I hope to get this article published at some point so any help would be much appreciated. Thanks everyone and God bless!
(Oh and please please pray for me!) :)
Comments
I've gathered some information, hope it helps a little:
http://www.copts.net/history_book.htm#PresidentSadat
(click on PRESIDENT SADAT in the index)
http://st-takla.org/Pope-1.html#6
(it wont allow me to copy and paste but click on '6* The Exile and Efforts for National Unity'
[i]http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B02E0DC1E38F933A05751C1A962948260
http://www.amcoptic.com/thesis.pdf
http://www.richarddnorth.com/books/downloads/fools4god.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Shenouda_III_of_Alexandria
Period of Exile
On September 3, 1981, Egyptian president Anwar Sadat ordered Pope Shenouda into exile at the Monastery of St. Bishoi. In addition, eight bishops, twenty-four priests, and many other prominent Copts were placed under arrest. Sadat replaced the church hierarchy with a committee of five bishops and referred to Pope Shenouda as the "ex-pope." On January 2, 1985, more than three years after Sadat's 1981 assassination, President Hosni Mubarak released Pope Shenouda from exile. He returned to Cairo to celebrate the January 7th Christmas mass to a crowd of more than ten thousand.
http://reference.allrefer.com/country-guide-study/egypt/egypt81.html
Islamist groups frequently and explicitly denounced Copts in their pamphlets and prayer meetings. The increasing tensions between Copts and Muslims inevitably led to clashes in Upper Egypt in 1977 and 1978 and later in the cities and villages of the Delta. Three days of religious riots in Cairo in 1981 left at least 17 Copts and Muslims dead and more than 100 injured. Isolated incidents of Muslim-Coptic violence continued throughout the 1980s and during 1990.
Coptic Pope Shenudah III (elected in 1971) blamed government silence for the increasing violence. He also expressed alarm at official actions that he said encouraged anti-Coptic feelings. In 1977, to protest a Ministry of Justice proposal to apply sharia legal penalties to any Muslim who converted from Islam, the pope called on the Coptic community to fast for five days. As harassment of Copts increased, Pope Shenudah III canceled official Easter celebrations for 1980 and fled to a desert convent with his bishops. Sadat accused the pope of inciting the Coptic-Muslim strife and banished him in September 1981 to internal exile. The government then appointed a committee of five bishops to administer the church. The following year, the government called upon the church synod to elect a new pope, but the Coptic clergy rejected this state intervention. In 1985 Husni Mubarak released Pope Shenudah III from internal exile and permitted him to resume his religious duties.
http://www.thewhitefathers.org.uk/354eg.html
Over the years the Coptic Church has opposed the Government's wish to introduce various Islamic laws such as the amputation of hands and capital punishment. Under Shari'a law conversion from Islam to another religion is punishable by death - although this is not practised. There have also been cases when women were forced to convert to Islam. The Coptic Pope, Shenouda III, has continually protested to the Government about these and the terrorist incidents. This resulted in Sadat banishing him to internal exile in September, 1981. The then Government appointed five Bishops to administer the church and tried to have a new Pope elected, but the clergy would not agree. Mubarak eventually released Pope Shenouda III in 1985.
http://www.orthodoxwiki.org/Shenouda_III_(Gayyid)_of_Alexandria#The_Exile_and_Efforts_of_National_Unity
The Exile and Efforts of National Unity
During the early years of his enthronement, His Holiness Pope Shenouda had an amicable relationship with the late Egyptian President Anwar El-Sadat. However, during his presidency, violent Islamic fundamentalist groups increased all over Egypt, especially in the Universities. They started to attack the Copts, vandalize their businesses, and burn their churches, which led Pope Shenouda to protest to the government against this repeated violence. Sadat reacted by issuing a presidential decree to exile His Holiness to the Monastery of St. Bishoy, imprison eight bishops, twenty-four priest, leading Coptic lay figures, and ban “El-Keraza” magazine and “Watany” newspaper.
Despite having to spend forty months away from his flock, His Holiness continued to care for his church. He saw the exile as an opportunity for spiritual retreat and wrote sixteen books during that time.
A month after his decree, Sadat was assassinated by the same fundamentalist groups. After much effort from His Holiness’ children inside and outside the Coptic Orthodox Church, and after three and a half years, the succeeding Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, released Pope Shenouda from exile. Accompanied by many bishops, His Holiness returned to St. Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo, where more than ten thousand people filled the Cathedral to receive the Pope.
His Holiness, after praying the Prayer of thanksgiving, greeted the flock with these words: “I have no residence except in your hearts, which are full of love. I have never been away from your hearts, not even for a twinkle of an eye.” He went on to say “I would like to do my best to deepen love, peace and reconciliation between the Church and the State, between the Church and our Muslim citizens. We are like organs in the one body, which is Egypt.”
His Holiness works tirelessly to improve relations between the Christians and Muslims in Egypt, in order to establish a peaceful social environment and to dispel sectarian divisions. The Pope and the president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, are in good relations, as well as with the moderate Muslims in Egypt.
http://www.amcoptic.com/press_mag_aca/coptmag_v27_1_modern.htm
Anwar Sadat, widely regarded as Nasser’s “yes-man” (Bikbashi Sah-sah), proved to be an incompetent and inept ruler. His ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamic fundamentalist group founded in 1928 in the town of Ismailia by Sheik Hassan El Banna and banned by Nasser’s regime[ii], caused him to move Egypt away from secularism with actions such as incorporating the Islamic Shari’a as part of the Egyptian constitution[iii] and putting the Coptic Pope under house arrest[iv].
Soon after his ascension to power in 1971, Sadat amended the constitution to cite the Shari’a as a main source of legislation, which he upgraded to the primary source of legislation in 1980. A 1978 referendum stated that, “Anyone known to hold principles harmful to the official religion [Islam] will be banned from jobs in the top level administration of the state or public sector moreover he will not be allowed to be a candidate… nor write for a newspaper, work in the mass media or have any position that might influence public opinion.”[v] In 1977 Sadat proposed to reinstate capital punishment for apostasy (conversion from Islam to another religion)[vi]. Under Sadat, Islamic inspired violence against the indigenous Christian people, the Copts, escalated from the 1972 burning of the Holy Bible Center and the stoning of Christians including a bishop, to the bombing of Coptic Churches in 1980 and mass rioting in 1981 which included marches by Islamic fundamentalists on the Coptic Cathedral[vii]. In September of 1981 Sadat arrested more than fifteen hundred members of the Muslim Brotherhood and put the Coptic Pope HH Pope Shenouda III in internal exile in Dar El-Sirean monastery and jailed many bishops[viii]. In spite of his many attempts to appease the Muslim Brotherhood they assassinated him while he was viewing a military parade on October 6, 1981[ix].
[i]http://www.radioislam.org/traitors/sadat/end.htm
In September 1981, Sadat ordered the biggest roundup of his opponents since he came to power, at least 1,500 people according to the official figure but more according to unofficial reports. The Muslim Brotherhood bore the brunt of the arrests. The supreme guide of the Brotherhood, Umar Tilmasani, and other religious militants were arrested. Sadat also withdrew his "recognition" of the Coptic pope Shenudah III, banished him to a desert monastery, and arrested several bishops and priests. Also arrested were such prominent figures as journalist Mohamed Heikal, and Wafd leader Fuad Siraj ad Din. Sadat ordered the arrest of several SLP leaders and the closing of Elshaab (The People) newspaper. A referendum on his purge showed nearly "99.5 percent" of the "electorate" approved.
Mazza :)
keep me in your prayers aswell ;D
small world isnt it heheheheheh
I can ask my mum, but the thing is i only found out last week that it was her uncle who defended him. I dont know if she knows a lot as well, cus she was quite young, but i'll ask
Anyway i was wondering if you would mind sending me a copy of your story when you're done.
Thanks alot.
Keep me in your prayers
I'll post what I can by Saturday, is that alright? Only because i've been a little busy
Yeah, of course! Whenever you can is fine, even if Saturday will be inconvenient, you can do so whenever you get the chance. Thank you so much for your kindness, you've been and still are a huge help!
hi i'm pretty sure you don't know me, but i might know u cause everybody from my chruch goes to UCI.
Anyway i was wondering if you would mind sending me a copy of your story when you're done.
Thanks alot.
Keep me in your prayers
Haha, I'm sure I know you too, as I know many people that go to your church. I don't know if I can put the face to the name yet though. But of course I'll send you my article. Thanks so much for your support and please pray for me!
There were four lawyers that defended His Holiness (top of the state might I add), however, till this day, their names will not be revealed.
Whenever they were attending to His Holiness, it was always in private, and no one would know anything about them. My mum said she was about 12yrs of age and she remembered that her uncle wasn't allowed to utter a word of what was debated, said, whatever. I know that it took numerous court cases and hearings for the judges to come to a stand.
So far, that is all I have gathered. There is still more ;)
I'd even talk to abouna, or sayedna. Im 100% sure that they would know something about the incident.
you know what would be great? if you could talk to his Holiness in person hehehehe ;)
someone told me that someone told him that their father was a solider at the time and was ordered to be at the monastery at the time of the exile, and at some nights he and other muslim soliders would see His Holiness Pope Shenouda 111 walking outside in the desert by him self, and he was full of light, as those of the anchorites and hermits
its just something i thought you might want to know, but i dont have any proof for the story so i wouldnt recomend you using it - it was just for ur knowledge about the great pope
God bless
but its not surprising, he is the pope ;)
hi, u dont know me cause im from australia, but i have a very interesting story
someone told me that someone told him that their father was a solider at the time and was ordered to be at the monastery at the time of the exile, and at some nights he and other muslim soliders would see His Holiness Pope Shenouda 111 walking outside in the desert by him self, and he was full of light, as those of the anchorites and hermits
its just something i thought you might want to know, but i dont have any proof for the story so i wouldnt recomend you using it - it was just for ur knowledge about the great pope
God bless
Sorry I was missing in action for a while, I've written a couple of drafts of my piece already, but still missing a lot. The story of the Pope seen as being lit is a great story, something I'm sure I'd include in my article because I love hearing about that type of stuff. Any other stories would be welcomed!
God bless....
In HIS Name,
RFZ
i heared a story about pope shenouda when he was exiled but i am not sure if it is true or not.
once while the pope was in the monstry the monks needed some stuff as they were updating the monstry and making new buildings. fr in charge ran out of materials for building and didn`t know what to do.he run to pope shenouda who was sitting on the sand and carring a small stick in his hands.the pope asked him if there was anything wrong so the Fr told him.pope asked him what he exactly needed and how much.Fr said 5 lb of ..... .
pope shenouda wrote on sand with the stick in his hands " 5 lb of ......." .at this time this was a huge load and it was difficult to get it from any where.and if they ordered it ,it would have taken very long time.
the Fr left pope shenouda thinking that there is nothing to be done.after a short time ( i think an hour) the monks found a big lorry carrying the 5 lb asking the soldiers at the gate of the monstry to enter as it has stuff for the monstry.it was the stuff that abouna needed.
i hope if you can check if it is true or not.
this is the story i heared ,god help you with your nice work
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XROEK4DX
hope it works