From: The Priests of St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Church, Toronto

To: The Congregation of St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Church, Toronto

Re: The recent article and subsequent emails claiming that our Priests boycotted the January 30 demonstration due to a threat from the Egyptian Ambassador

A recent article on the website of the Middle East Christian Association (MECA) as well as U.S. Copts Association has caused an unwarranted atmosphere of doubt and questioning among our Coptic congregations. The author misinterprets a recent letter from the Egyptian Ambassador to Fr. Marcos as a threat to the Coptic Priests. He stops short of accusing our dear Fr. Marcos of cowardice, claiming that he did not participate in the demonstration because of the alleged threat in that letter.

To set the record straight against these false accusations, we owe it to our dear congregation to explain the following points:

1. The Egyptian Ambassador’s letter is one of a series of letters in which he is relaying to the Coptic Fathers in Canada, through Fr. Marcos, the actions taken by the Egyptian authorities following the Nag Hammadi massacre, since he promised to do exactly that to all the Priests who met him in Ottawa on Thursday January 14, 2010.

2. In that meeting, Fr. Marcos spoke on behalf of all the Priests, presented to the Ambassador our letter addressed to President Mubarak, expressed in a decisive manner our dismay, insisted that our demands be answered promptly and with utmost sincerity, and received the Ambassador’s promise to report to us, on a regular basis, any developments concerning our demands and the Egyptian authorities’ related actions. The priests’ letter to the president, in addition to many other requests, had specifically called for decisive actions against the instigators behind the crime of Nag Hammadi.

3. Fr. Marcos was the speaker on behalf of all the Canadian Coptic Priests in their meeting with the Ambassador, and at the large meeting of all the S.W. Ontario congregations in Brampton Sunday evening, January 17, 2010. No responsible individual can claim that such an outspoken leader can be intimidated by any threat, if any. His history of 45 years in serving the Coptic Church in North America witnesses to this fact.

4. The article’s author’s interpretation, that this letter represents a threat to the Coptic Priests, is nothing but a false speculation on his part, and can only serve to spread a spirit of division between Priests and unsuspecting members of the congregations.

5. The decision taken by several Fathers, from St. Mark’s and other churches, not to participate in the Saturday procession preceded this letter from the Egyptian Ambassador. Fr. Marcos joined that decision only after he had participated in several preparatory meetings for the same procession. Fr. Marcos and the Priests of St. Mark’s explained the reasons for their decision in an email to the S.W. Ontario Priests dated Thursday January 28, and during a subsequent Clergy Meeting held at St. George and St. Rueiss Church, the same day. The Ambassador’s letter was never mentioned as a factor, since most of us had not even had a chance to read it to that date.

6. Our reasons, as clergy, for not joining the demonstration was also relayed to our dear congregations verbally, during the liturgies of that same weekend, as follows:

a) We do not wish to jeopardise the gains of our previous fruitful actions, which are our visit to the Egyptian Ambassador in Ottawa to present our letter to His Excellency President Mubarak, and the January 17 Memorial meeting at Pearson Convention Centre, which caught the attention of the Egyptian and Canadian governments and representatives of Canadian Churches, as well as the media.

b) Recent trends in the Egyptian media, holding H.H. Pope Shenouda III accountable for actions on the part of the Clergy in the lands of immigration, cause us to use utmost prudence before any participation as Clergy in a public event. (Canada is directly under the pastoral and administrative care of H.H. Pope Shenouda)

We also left to everyone the freedom to choose whether to take part in this procession or not, without prejudice either way.

7. Even though we did not mention it in the above reasons at that time, you can now deduce from no. 5 above, that the preparatory meetings revealed certain intentions to use the demonstration in a way that did not agree with our set conditions and values.

8. The Egyptian Consul in Ottawa, on behalf of the Egyptian Ambassador, called Fr. Marcos twice on Tuesday February 2^nd, to express his dismay at this misinterpretation and to affirm that his letter was only intended to relay the President’s serious commitment to correct the unhealthy environment of religious tension which now exists in Egypt.

Our dear congregation,

We are dealing with a misguided effort that can only cause division and prejudice. This situation is shifting our attention from the real issue which is our stand by our Mother Church, hierarchy and congregation, in trying and difficult times, through prayer, first and foremost, and efficient action to end the state of discrimination and hatred which plagues our country. Any more attention to these accusations and idle talk can only serve to disperse our prayerful efforts and weaken our position against the real enemy who kills and destroys our brothers, sisters, churches, homes and livelihood. We call upon you to ignore such articles, delete these emails and stay focused on our real target and the edifying methods.

May God grant us peace and harmony and save us from the snares of the enemy through the prayers of H.H. Pope Shenouda III.

God be with you.

The Priests of St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Church in Toronto