Three Events at the Same Time

[Peace4All]

􀂙 The priest's wife disappearance
problem happened in a contained
place which is Abou El Mattamir.
And it could have been resolved
locally and finalized without letting
the rest of the country hear about
it. But it was not resolved although
HE the Metropolitan of Behera met
with HE the Governor who was
very understanding. Then joint
them the Local Governing Minister
and the Security Department… This
was on Thursday 2-12.
And when the subject was not
resolved on the local level,
everyone (Security and the
Metropolitan) agreed to take this
subject to Cairo. And two buses
took off to Cairo with the
knowledge of the security
department then they were
followed by a third bus. They faced
obstacles in the way but they
finally made it…
􀀿 􀀿 􀀿
􀂙 Objection to this situation was
moved to Cairo. And news there
spread on a much larger scale than
it could in Abou El Mattamir. And
this was on Friday 3-12.
􀂙 On the dawn of Friday the
great reporter Mr. Said Sonbol
died and his family requested
to hold his funeral in the Grand
Cathedral in Abbaseya to honor
him and so that HH the Pope can
hold the prayers himself on the
honorable deceased. And it is not
true what was mentioned (to
provoke) in one of the newspapers
that the place changed to be the
Cathedral and that the raging
youth were brought from Abou El
Mattamir on there funeral time!
The funeral was held on Sunday 5-
12 and demonstrations started on
Friday. And Mr. Said Sonbol's
family was the one who requested
that the funeral be held in the
Grand Cathedral.
􀀿 􀀿 􀀿
􀂙 After the funeral, HH the Pope
received in his office Dr. Osama El
Baz and Dr. Mustafa El Fiqi and
explained to them the seriousness
of the situation in that the priest's
wife is not just an ordinary woman
but she is considered as a spiritual
mother to Christians in this church.
And that what is being said about
her conversion to Islam is too
provocative to people. And that
among the shouts there was the
phrase: (They took the priest's
wife and tomorrow they will take
my wife). And how this indicates
how insecure people feel about
their houses and wives. Also HH
explained that this subject is not
just an individual incident but it
has to do with a woman who has a
certain specialty that affects the
public opinion…
And during this visit there was
a phone call between HH the Pope
and HE Dr. Nazif the Prime
Minister. And HH the Pope said
that there are problems that
needs speed in resolving
because slowness in resolving
them might complicate them
and spread them more.
And when Dr. Osama El Baz
went out of the meeting, he
himself got to know the
demonstrating youths thinking and
opinion so that he takes a
comprehensive picture about the
situation and the public feelings…
􀀿 􀀿 􀀿
􀂙 What increased the tension
was the huge police crowd
surrounding the Cathedral.
Some said that there were more
than fifty Central Security Forces
Cars and police forces among
which there were high ranks to the
extent that some Copts outside the
Cathedral were worried about HH
the Pope himself when they saw in
the media the Cathedral
surrounded by this huge number of
policemen. And they called by
telephone to assure HH safety.
􀂙 Policemen acted slowly in
solving this issue and it was known
that the priest's wife was at their
possession. Not only did they not
solve it at Abou El Mattamir and
not in Cairo before Mr. Said
Sonbol's funeral nor after it. This
caused the tension to go on
without any interference to solve
the problem.
􀀿 􀀿 􀀿