Al-Minya
Two reporters from the newspaper al-Watan went to al-Minya to see the crumbling ruins of the churches that were recently attacked by assailants. A summary of some of their impressions follows:
Between a heap of burnt copies of the gospel, Zarīf Wahīb Yannī, director of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Mallāwī, greets us. Carrying two copies of the gospels, he recounts what happened, starting with what happened on Friday afternoon, August 16. He describes a scene of carnage, of automatic weapons, Molotov cocktails, and looting. He estimates that the damage in his church alone could come to 20 million Egyptian pounds.
We visited other churches in the area, and heard similar stories of destruction. Yet consistently we heard a peaceful message from the pulpits, to love your enemies. In the Catholic Church in Malawī, among walls that used to be adorned with icons, paintings, and crucifixes, now nearly bare, a line of Catholic children are praying. They pray facing the scene of the slaughter, home now to a face-down image of Jesus Christ and a headless statue of the Virgin Mary. Loud and clear, they pray: “Forgive our trespassers as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
To which we say, “Amen” (Ahmad Min’am and Muhamad ‘Alī Zīdān, al-Watan, Aug. 24). Read original text in Arabic.
(Rob Bental, Intern)
