The Holy Family Tradition, which links the Biblical reference of Jesus in Egypt to specific locations along the Nile, is deeply embedded in Coptic Christianity. Austrian-American photographer Norbert Schiller went with photographer Dana Smillie, AWR's Cornelis Hulsman and AWR-researcher Jayson Casper to locations in Upper Egypt to probe how Christians along this route are living and how the Egyptian revolution has affected them. 

 

No Christian we met during this nine-day journey spoke about experience with persecution but there was certainly fear about what the future might bring. Fear for the future also resulted in building new churches in predominantly Christian villages Bayadiya, increased from 6 to 14 churches, and Dayr Abu Hinnis where the number of Orthodox churches increased from 5 to 10. Father Kyrillos of Saraknah obtained, after a struggle of years, a permit to destroy the 70-year old church in the village that had become much too small, and build a church that is almost three times the size of the old church. "We have been building for the future," he explained. "We do not know when we would again get an opportunity to build."

 

Several stories that were related to us about the Holy Family tradition show that these traditions serve contemporary interests without having strong historical foundations as ordinary Egyptian believers tend to believe. The Monastery of Durunka was only created in the 1970s and promoted by the bishop of Assiut as a site the Holy Family visited. Bishop Thomas of al-Qussia added Saraknah to the Holy Family tradition, now stating that the Holy Family stayed here one night without having historical evidence for this. Norbert Schiller recorded from local Christians that it is important for them that their towns and villages are linked to the Holy Family.

Bishop Thomas on his way to the Palm Sunday service

Jayson Casper recorded his observations in a pictorial travelogue, including his reflections on how the Holy Family Tradition might actually damage the faith of inquisitive Copts.

 

Drs. Cornelis Hulsman