Voice of the copts translate to English the facts said by father Mettias.
An" Eye witness" Account: the full story of the events of the Church of Ein Shams by Father Mettias Mankarious, Katiba Tibia
Lies and Fabrications
I did not want to recall what happened on the eve of that day, were it not for many people’s insistence that I should break my silence, to tell them the facts, which I write -for the first time- in front of God, my conscience and history, especially after so many people have weaved imagination into the events of that day …Ç Sunday, 13 Hator 1725 Year of Martyrs, or 23rd November, 2008, the day of the celebration of the first mass to be held at the Church of Our Virgin Lady and St.Abram in western Ein Shams. In addition, lies and fabrications were adopted by some media, echoed by others – including some men of the church, who supposedly ought to be more careful with what they say – which included: 1 – A lie that Christians used loudspeakers in the street during prayers!!!(I am not sure if there is one Copt in Egypt who dares to think -just think – of such a thing?! How can he achieve this?! To provoke whom?! Whether he is ready to bear the consequences of that?! 2 – A dispute between the Copts and the local Arab Muslims and their neighboring areas involving one of their leaders, who is a member of the banned group; this never occurred at all, the church is very careful in avoiding such aggressive situations which are contrary to its principles. 3- The conversion of the factory into a church after the mosque was built, (I am here to witness that until we started our prayers in church on that day, there was no mosque not even a Zawya (prayer corner) in that location, there was only the concrete structure of the building, the ground floor of which could be used one day as a Zawya, in order to obtain free facilities for the whole building, as is always the case in those areas. The Church is located between St. Mark’s Church where I serve along with others, many of the areas deprived of a Church (Maarouf estate, Atef estate, Arab El-Hesn, Arab Abu-Tawila (El-Tawilah), Kerdassa Arabs, etc.), and the Church of the Virgin in western Ein Shams, Trolley Street. The visitors of this new Church were not unknown to me or the church where I serve. Some local person had already bought land and built for himself a house in the area of St. Mark’s Church (on the outskirts of Qaliubiya)which is separated from the Cairo governorate by the Tawfikiya canal (the canal is now land but the street still bears its name), I say this because it looked to some people as if the ‘village’ priests went to a church which has nothing to do with them, just to ‘show off’.
Before the Inauguration:
I was paid a visit by some of the men responsible for this Church, those who have labored hard to turn this factory into a place worthy of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (I was denied the blessings of participating in the cost of purchasing the property and in the modifications required to make it a place of worship), and they talked with me regarding this matter ( The modifications and the inauguration of the church and some other matters) How happy I was that God had mercy on the people of that area who were deprived of a worshiping place, together with their children and elderly, as they did not have to walk anymore for a distance of more than two kilometers to go and the same coming back every time they wanted to pray at our church, or the Church of the Virgin in western Ein Shams (these are the nearest churches, and which are at the two opposing ends of the district). I was asked to meet with the priest in charge of the church (one of the fathers who were honored to carry the distinguished yoke – the yoke of Christ – twice!! who had been ordained to serve in this area less than a year ago. I immediately welcomed his meeting which took place only a few days following this visit. I was honored with his visit, together with some church workers, with whom I had built old friendships through the service. I inquired from them about the situation and was told that the matter lies in my own hands. I contacted some of the distinguished people who mediate in such circumstances between the Church and the State, in order to inquire from them about the progress in connection with this Church. They assured me that the arrangements are usually lengthy due to the necessary preliminary preparations with all those concerned, except that there is a different route from that one, which is through the Security Authorities and which could be faster in obtaining a prayer permit.
On the Day
During the meeting we discussed together which of the two routes would be the fastest due to the dire need of the local people for this church. The serving priest then contacted me with the good news for all of us, and advised me that they will initiate the service on that Sunday and invited me to participate in that great joyful event – without doubt – for us priests who serve those suffering people. The telephone was not the best means of knowing the details, but I congratulated him and promised to participate. Indeed I went on Sunday and was amazed by the number of people going Church to pray in the first Mass (they were hundreds – approximately NINE HUNDRED – as is clear from the video, and not one hundred as some sources reported and which was adopted by the some of the people of the Church who did not see or were present at this awesome celebration. The vehicle of the head priest of the Church of the Virgin in west Ein Shams was a little ahead of me. We met and exchanged congratulations at 07.00 am and both went up to the second floor of the building where prayers were to be held; it was beautifully arranged befitting for the presence of the Lord of Lords. I was eager to know what arrangements were taken for this great work in which I was participating in, and indeed I asked the honorable priest, who assured me that they had to go through the fast route due to the need of the people, and all arrangements will be carried according to the instructions of the security officers, and with the knowledge of the direct church leadership which will advise in turn the central Church leadership as per the Church hierarchy. I was reassured, we started celebrating Mass and within only a few minutes the place was crowded with worshipers until there was no room for all attendees.
Thanks to the Efforts of the Security Authorities:
For the sake of honesty, one has to mention the efforts of Security men who positioned themselves in front of the Church to emphasize to all neighbors that everything was going well, and with their knowledge, and that there is no cause for concern. I have seen with my own eyes how our Muslim neighbours provided the security men with soft drinks as a gesture of welcome. Everything went smoothly and we continued with our prayers, until the time when we were approaching the end, when during communion, we heard a microphone sound coming from the ground floor of the building opposite the Church (and which they started preparing to be one of the Zawiyas as I mentioned earlier). The voice on the microphone, was inviting people to the commencement of Eid Adha prayers (the celebration of which was still two weeks away), but the Security men stormed the place (the source of the sound) and confiscated the microphone (not for our sake), but they were carrying out their orders strictly according to a carefully controlled scenario to accomplish this matter (the matter of the Church’s inauguration, without any incidents). It would seem that there was jealousy among our Muslim brothers and neighbors to start praying in their mosque before the inauguration of our church – which was the main reason behind calling the people of the area on loudspeakers to gather them and start praying, although the idea of making a Zawiya " mosque" in that place was – basically – a product of leaking news about the opening of a church in that building (which was formerly a factory).
Great Happiness:
The Mass ended, greetings were exchanged, the Alologia was distributed together with chocolates, and the congregation left quietly as instructed by the Priest who led the prayers in the most spiritual manner. The people who did not attend the prayers due to not knowing of the news of the opening of the church started arriving, with tears of joy in their eyes to congratulate the priests who were at the Church, and themselves also. We remained there receiving congratulations from the people and from some priests of neighboring churches (churches of St. Mark at Rashah, the Virgin in western Ein Shams and St.Mina and Pope Kirillos in particular), who came specially to provide support and congratulate. However, we ought to mention that the presence of Security men and their cars in front of the building was odd for passers-by; it looked like an official inspection of the ration shops or on road works and the like, making bystanders stop and inquire, then others would come along and so on, except for the neighbors who knew the truth, and did their best to accommodate to the situation (the presence of the Church of their area)!!We also wish to express our gratitude to all those who were interested in the inauguration of the Church who congratulated us by phone, including the previously mentioned church worker who was expected to have had a role. Arrangement went better than expected, so we were all reassured.Then, as the time approached half past three, we learned that the Sheriff of the Marg Police Station was coming for inspection in order to be able to prepare for the permanent service at the Church, as is usual in this case. However, events did not happen as we had hoped for, we received news that the Central Church leadership has summoned the Priest of the Church to go there in order to "coordinate" – according to the expression relayed to us – with the Security Authorities which had an inquiry regarding what is happening, as they claimed. We were overwhelmed that the Security officials (who contacted our Churchleadership) were confirming the lack of knowledge of our Church leadership about the Church’s inauguration, as if it was just a whim of one of us, but a lucky whim which got the cooperation of the local Security, neighbors, etc. and which received no opposition until the day came to an end!!! I was still at Church until a quarter past five, when I left to perform a marriage ceremony at St. Mark’s Church, with the intention of returning right after the completion of this service. I left behind at Church three loving priests – whom I remember them with love, and who are very faithful, and I went to my car with my deacon, who accompanied me since the early morning.
Big Surprise:
The Church Priest went to meet our leaders as per orders, but he was surprised, and surprised us too of the strict orders from our Church leaders to immediately close the Church, and evacuate the premises. It was only moments when these orders coincided with the news leaking to our neighbors in the area – it is not known the source of the leaking of the news – that the church opened without permission to pray, and without the blessings of the religious leadership. We now saw a change in attitude of the neighbors. The only prayer left in the day was the Evening prayer which was used by Mohamed Barakat – a member of the outlawed group – together with the new good news in helping him to mobilize the crowds through the loudspeakers of the nearby mosques.The people gathered from all over, and one of the Sheikhs tried in vain to disperse the people. How they all united together as one and started shouting!!! I convey to the reader as an eye witness all what I saw with my own eyes; I did not witness myself these later developments, but watched them only through the recorded video tapes. I would like to make a remark here , that someone told me during the wedding ceremony not to return back to the Church of the Virgin and Anba Abram, as a volcano has erupted there. I went on to follow up on my brothers who were trapped inside the Church, who were at the height of their grief for having to leave the Church to obey the Church leaderships’ orders, with their surprise at the outbreak of the volcano in one go and without any warning. How did it erupt? What are the reasons that changed the face of things and the state of dormancy that prevailed for almost twelve hours of that Sunday?! Who was moving things and putting pressure on us to close the Church?! What is his interest, particularly after the matter was accomplished and out of the danger stage, and the surprise was accepted?! Questions for which I have not been looking for an answer. For me this is a repeated scenario for incidents involving the opening of churches in similar but non-identical circumstances. However, all these questions are searching for answers for the sake of those whose joy turned into sorrow and grief … but we pray and pray that God grant them patience for the permanent intrigues against the work of God, particularly the vile plots which leads to our killings – may God save us from it.
Until we meet with a new episode in the series of the struggle of the utterly innocent people in their suffering, who have the aid of God and His reckoning.