Coptic Christmas : More than celebration in 2012

And tonight is the Coptic Christmas aka Orthodox Christmas Eve , it is a great event without doubt and this year it is extremely important for three reasons :

The Holy Family in Egypt "Virtual Khan"

• The first Christmas mass after the revolution.
• The first Christmas mass after a tough year where tens of Christian protesters were killed in clashes with security forces including the Maspero clashes.
• The first Christmas mass after the meteoric reason of Islamists in Egypt.

There is no doubt that from 7th January 2011 to 7th January 2012 there is a huge change in the Egyptian Christian community , people are not afraid especially the Christian youth who began to refuse the Church guardianship when it comes to politics after years of Church’s domination. This Christmas Egyptian Christian youth held online Campaign to send a clear message to the Orthodox Church : Do not receive representatives of SCAF.
Mina Daniel and his brothers were not killed in vain because actually his blood gave the Young Christians a power to have their own voice, now we got movements like Maspero Youth Union and Mina Daniel movement that sprang from Tahrir square especially and mainly the Mina Daniel Movement. Even before these movements we had that group of Christians stood against the Church because of the divorce issue , Of course it is not our business but you must know for 3 decades the regime used the Church to control millions of Egyptians in its own way.
Of course I do not like that religious characterization when it comes to politics but I feel that it is important first step and actually I will not blame them because you got unbearable religious polarization and rise of conservative Muslim trends.
Now currently I am watching the Christmas mass on Egyptian TV like every year and I found the following :

• Pope Shnouda III looks so sick.I feel that the bishops are acting too fast. Already thanks to Christian Friends I know that Bishop Armeia is acting on behalf of him in several parts of the mass !!
• The Christmas mess is much more merrier than every year.
• There are not less than 9 army generals invited from SCAF attending the mass including none other than Sami Anan , the chief of Staff himself , Lt. General El Fangry "he is bald" and Lt. General Hegazy. Some of these generals are Christians by the way

Tahany El Gabali , Shafik and Anan

• Boldly enough Lt. General Hamdy Badeen is sitting in the front of row !!!!! I know about the Christian’s beliefs in forgiveness but as Muslim I find it hard to believe that SCAF’s stupidity reaches to send this man to provoke the feelings of Christians like that !!

Badeen on the left besides minister Hassan Younes

• I have not seen the family of Mina Daniel among the attendance in the Cathedral !!!
• The Muslim brotherhood icons are there attending the mass : Saad El Katany , Mahmoud Morsi, Mahmoud Gholzan and Mohamed Abdel Kaddous. The MB youth are protecting the Church tonight.

MP Saad El Katany of FJ party

• Potential Presidential candidates Amr Moussa , Hamdeen Sabhi and Ahmed Shafik are attending , I can’t see potential presidential candidate ElBaradei and I will not expect to see potential presidential candidate Abu Ismail there. Interesting enough Shafik got a seat in the first row.

Potential Presidential candidate Shafik with the pope

• The American ambassador is there as well Adel Emam and MP Amr Hamzawy and Mostafa El Feky. Mona Makram Ebeid is there.
• When Pope Shnouda addressed the public in the Church as the custom and praised the army leadership attending there was that noise from the back and it turned out some chanted “Down with the military rule”. Of course one minute the chants were silenced. The Church security allegedly detained the young men who chanted "Down with military rule"

• Hamdy Badeen kissed the shoulders of Pope Shnouda as sign of respect for the elder.

Hamdy Badeen Saluting the pope

Anan Saluting the Pope

It is worth to mention that the Kasr El Dobara Church of Tahrir square held a special mass in the morning where pro-revolution icons were there from Muslims including Ahmed Harara , his mother , Reem Magued, Yosri Fouda, Alaa El Aswany , Amr Khafga.

Harara with Amr Moussa

Potential presidential candidate Amr Moussa was there as well and he saluted Harara.

Here are video clips showing the reception of the activists especially Ahmed Harara in the Church of Kasr Al Dobara.

Kasr Al Dobara church : A Salute to Harara

The photos of the martyrs were raised in the mass at other churches across the country. 
Merry Christmas to all Egyptian Christians and to Orthodox Christians worldwide.

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