Coptic Church & Ecumenical Movement - Saint Mina Coptic ...

urge more strongly the participation of Christians in public life, and to make more
effective Christian-Muslim cooperation in building a society founded upon respect for
diversity, full equality in citizenship, the protection of freedom, and the defense of the
dignity and rights of the human individual.
The difficulties which test the very existence of Christians and their witness, we urge
our people to stand firm, and to be strong in the hope which Jesus Christ has given to
them. This requires that they work within present realities with a spirit of wisdom and
objectivity. Let them not exaggerate, be terrorised or fall victims to fear.
This does not mean that we make light of those things which cause stress in the
situation and the need to respond to them head on. It requires of us greater
cooperation and solidarity in making use of our intellectual and material resources in
the fields of culture, education, society, and economy in order to mobilize Christians
in their role of serving society.
Greeting you in the love of the Lord Jesus, we have this to say: Stand firm in your
faith in God. He pays attention. “Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered”
by Him (Luke 12:7). Strengthen the bonds of love and mutuality among yourselves,
because “God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and
self-control” (1 Timothy 1:7). Among yourselves cultivate harmony, brotherhood and
peace. The Apostle Paul warns us that hard times will come, “for people will be
lovers of self, lovers of money, proud and arrogant…” (2 Timothy 3:2), but he also
says, “I beg you…to lead a life worthy of the calling to which God has called you,
with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love, eager
to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. You are one body and the
Spirit is one, just as God called you to one hope. You have one Lord, one faith, one
baptism, one God, the Father of all. He is above all; He works through all; and He is
in all.” (Ephesians 4:1-6).
We cannot conclude this letter of ours without reaffirming that we feel our people’s
pain. We share fully in their cry for justice not least of all in the heart of the struggle
occasioned by the Israeli occupation of Palistine, Lebanon and Syria, and by the
Turkish occupation of Cyprus. We must also point out the tragic circumstances
through which the Iraqi people are living because of unjust and unjustifiable
sanctions, causing extreme suffering among civilians, most especially among
children, old people and the sick. We call the churches of the world to stand in
solidarity with the people of Iraq for their right to live with dignity.
Beloved brothers and children in the Lord, let us be a community whose hearts are
filled with the gospel’s limitless love, and hearts filled also with courage to defend the
truth. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with us all.
Signatories:
Ignatios IV Hazim,
Patriarch of Antioch and All the East for the
Greek Orthodox Church
225
Petros VII,
Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa for the
Greek Orthodox Church
Theodoros I,