Bishop Yuhannā Qultah, as a representative of the Catholic Church in Egypt, took part in the Constituent Assembly called upon to write a new constitution. Having studied Islamic history and philosophy, he has his own view and future perception on the crisis Egypt is currently experiencing.  While there are reports of new clashes in the streets between police and anti-government protesters, the Coptic Catholic Bishop outlines the contours of the delicate moment lived by the great north African country--not only its Christians, but also its Muslims.

In an interview delivered to al-Tahrīr, Bishop Qultah said the reason of the consensus withdrawal of all Church representatives from the Constituent Assembly set to draft the new constitution was that the proposals for amendments were not taken into consideration and a persistence to relate all matters to either according to sharī’ah or to the provision of the society, is not only dangerous, according to Qultah, but also against any ruling of Islam even in the past. He further noted that discourse and dialogue have always been a divine matter and have not been invented by human beings, criticizing, thus, the government's unwillingness to sit with the opposition. For Bishop Qultah, the real problem is the imposition of a one-sided obsolete religious doctrine, whereas the twenty-first century is experiencing global plurality and diversity.

When asked what advice he would give to the secularists and the Muslim Brothers regarding the upcoming parliamentary elections, he said: "To the secular movements, I advise them to unite in order to obtain the rights of the people, and to the Muslim Brothers, I urge them to refrain from falsifying the electoral ballot results"  (Yūsuf Sha’bān and Peter Majdī, al-Tahrīr, Jan. 15, p. 9). Read original text in Arabic.