On Thursday, May 30th, Luka Renić, a graduate student from Croatia completing his M.A. at St. Joseph University in Beirut, and I visited the headquarters of the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services (CEOSS) in the al-Nuzha district of Cairo for a conversation about their dialogue initiatives. Founded in 1950, CEOSS functions as the main arm of the evangelical Presbyterian church in Egypt for social, cultural, and humanitarian outreach and assistance. The Center for Arab-West Understanding has maintained a long relationship with CEOSS and its General Director, Dr. Andrea Zaki, who also serves as the President of the Protestant Community in Egypt. Indeed, we are proud that the chairwoman of CAWU’s board, Professor Hoda Awad, also serves as Board Secretary at CEOSS. 

(Meeting with staff members at CEOSS headquarters.)

CEOSS works across many diverse sectors, including agriculture, development, microfinance, gender, environment, and media, but our meeting was focused on their efforts in intercultural and interreligious dialogue. These efforts include significant annual conferences focused on Europe-Middle East relations, but also initiatives in many of the 27 governorates of Egypt. In our conversations with CEOSS staff, both Luka and I were impressed by their work in rural regions of Egypt where interreligious relations can be more challenging than they usually are in the major urban centers of Cairo and Alexandria. Their philosophy behind dialogue was also noteworthy. Historically, it is probably fair to say that CEOSS has focused on social welfare and economic development in Egypt. However, their dialogue programs have increased precisely because they have seen the connection between economic and social welfare and healthier intercommunal relations that often emerge through dialogue. At CAWU, we certainly agree that dialogue is not an intellectual luxury but is vitally connected to societal wellbeing in general. 

For more information on CEOSS, please see their annual report here. We are also looking forward to reading Luka Renić’s M.A. thesis on dialogue institutions in Egypt in due course. 

Starting tomorrow, the Center for Arab-West Understanding is partnering with the Centre for Christian-Muslim Understanding and Partnership (Anglican/Episcopal) to host the second round of our “Journey of Learning” program. This three-day conference (June 3-5) will feature Christian and Muslim leaders learning directly from each other about their respective faiths. Lecturers and participants are coming from diverse Christian traditions in Egypt, Al-Azhar University, and the Islamic Research Academy. We are grateful to Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Mouneer Anis who directs CCMUP for this opportunity and are confident that it will be a rich and meaningful conference.