Arab Spring a dangerous time for Christians

I enjoyed this article for the anecdotal touches to the story of Christians in Egypt. Times of change are always difficult for minorities.

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(Catholic Herald) - Clambering up to the top floor of the narrow house, the feeling of anti-climax was overwhelming.

“Look there,” said the young priest, enthusiastically. What he was pointing at was a small opening in the roof, operated by a makeshift window.

It was only when I returned downstairs and heard the full story that I realised what all the fuss was about.

It turned out that in the face of unrelenting government opposition, Coptic clergy in this part of Upper Egypt had devised a cunning plan to create a chapel. Using the opening in the roof, they had passed building materials through from the neighbouring house and thereby converted one of the rooms into a chapel.

Now people coming to “visit friends” are secretly attending Mass. This story – eerily evocative of a classic Cold War scenario – sits uneasily with the media image of modern Egypt, with its “Facebook Generation” who thronged Cairo’s Tahir Square clamouring for change.

But if the story shows anything it is that Egypt has a long way to go if it is embrace the brave new world envisioned by so many of its burgeoning youth. More particularly, a culture of discrimination and intimidation against minorities – especially Christians – can hardly be thrown off overnight.

Indeed, even before we set foot in the country, it had become clear that the pro-democracy movement of Tahir Square fame was set in opposition to hardliners determined to create an Islamist country rigorously in line with Sharia law.

Our quest as a fact-finding team from Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need was – among other things – to assess which vision of Egypt looked likely to prevail. As it happened, our mission very nearly failed at the first hurdle. With a cruel sense of irony, providence decreed that our original trip dates should coincide almost exactly with the overthrow of President Mubarak...

Complete article here.