EGYPT (ACN News): A senior bishop in Egypt has condemned the military’s crackdown on the latest demonstrations and given a robust defence of the protesters.
Bishop Antonios Aziz Mina accused Egypt’s military of shooting innocent people and using violence in response to peaceful protests.
The Coptic Catholic Bishop of Giza, a major city outside Cairo, said Christians and Muslims were united in the capital’s Tahrir Square in defence of human rights.
“The authorities have no right to shoot peaceful people,” Bishop Aziz said.
“Using violence against peaceful people is not acceptable. The authorities must explain their actions.”
The bishop’s comments, made in an recent interview with Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, came after reports that at least 26 people had died with hundreds injured after three days of clashes between protesters and security forces.
Thousands have taken to the streets concerned that the military-led administration that took over from President Hosni Mubarak in February will not leave power after elections.
Speaking from Egypt, Bishop Aziz told ACN: “The army has not learned the lesson that if you shoot people they will react.
“The more you attack them, the more they will react.”
He defended the protesters, saying: “People have a right to speak out in this way. The only way they can make their point is by demonstrating.
“The rights of the people need to be defended. By making demonstrations, they are not making a political statement, they are calling for justice.
“The young people, who began the revolution (that led to Mubarak’s downfall), no longer trust people in authority especially the military.
“They were full of hope when the revolution began but now no longer.”
Relations between the Catholic Church and the regime hit a new low recently after senior clergy accused the Government of being implicated in attacks on Christian-led demonstrators in Cairo which left 25 people dead and hundreds injured.
The bishop said the regime had defied calls by protesters to free up restrictions on Christian practice, especially draconian legislation on building churches.
In September the European Union of Human Rights Organisations published a report claiming that nearly 100,000 Christians in Egypt had emigrated since the fall of President Mubarak.
Bishop Aziz said many Muslims joined Christians in opposing the regime’s style of government.
“Christians and Muslims are altogether in Tahrir Square now,” he said. “They have the same desire for a new future.”
