Pope Francis did not speak in political terms. After the violence and the  

There are good reasons why Ecclesia in Medio Oriente is a significant document. It reflects the pain of Catholic minorities in the countries of the so-called Arab Springs. It speaks about the problem of the invisible exodus of Christians. It underlines the need for the Catholic Church to «reset and go» from the Bible as the starting point. The Bible as a tool of self-consciousness and also of dialogue. In fact, the positive role religion can play in a conflict environment is very important.

True, when Benedict XVI convoked the Synod for the Middle East, the mass popular movement later called «the Arab Spring» was still to come. On the other hand, it is also true that the Middle East and North Africa were seething. The Papal nuncios (the network of the pope’s ambassadors) was already alerting the Holy See that violence against Christians had increased, that the hidden exodus was always less containable and that social tensions were about to explode.

This background context led the Pope to convoke a regional synod. The representatives of the Church in the Middle East gathered in Rome in 2011 for three weeks and laid their problems on the table. But they also laid out positives, like the dialogue among religions.

When, in 2010, the bombings of Christian Churches in Egypt multiplied, Muslims took to the streets to protest together with Christians. In Lebanon, the charitable network of the Catholic Church has recently supported the sudden inflow of Syrian refugees, many of them Muslim. These are just some of the many examples that could be cited.

On the other hand, Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world. Benedict XVI raised this many times, and so has Pope Francis. It is a fact, based on quantifiable data. It was proven in the most recent Report on Religious Freedom in the World, issued by Aid to the Church in Need. The report covers 196 countries and it includes all religions, not just Christianity.

So, what to do?

Ecclesia in Medio Oriente provides important guidelines. The most used word in the exhortation is «communion». And communion is symbolized by the call to find an agreement for «a common translation of the Prayer of the Lord, the Our Father, in the vernacular languages of the region.»

The exhortation is a 90-page document divided into three sections, an introduction and a conclusion.  There are no political statements presented, because – Benedict XVI wrote – the position of the Holy See regarding Middle East political issues is well known.

So Pope Benedict proposed to restart from the Word of God, from the dialogue among religions on the most important topics (first among them religious freedom) and from the need to develop a fruitful collaboration «for what concerns charitable activities and the promotion of the values of human life, justice and peace.»

Above all, Pope Benedict was aware that the Catholic Church in the Middle East «will not be able to fully manifest this communion at the ecumenical and interreligious level unless she has first revived it in herself, within each of her Churches and among all her members: patriarchs, bishops, priests, religious, consecrated persons and lay persons.»

Benedict XVI gave the post-synodal exhortation in Lebanon, in the monastery of Harissa, during his last apostolic trip. On that occasion, he underlined that the exhortation was an appeal to «set a path to rediscover the essentiality,» i.e. an appeal to the sequela Christi (following Christ) in a difficult and painful environment that «could lead to the forgetting of the glorious cross.» And the appeal was essential – Benedict XVI noted – because «God dislikes timidity.»

So, Christians are called to bear witness firmly, in communion. And they are also called to be part of the process of «democracy building» that the Holy See has been promoting for a long time.

In September 2012, in Istanbul, Miguel Anguel Ayuso Guixot, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, spoke at the international conference about «Arab awakening and peace in the Middle East: Muslim and Christian perspectives.» The focus of his intervention was an appeal to nurture a culture of democracy, an endeavor – he added – that «requires time, effort, patience and education.»

This very same appeal was the focus of the Message for the World Day of Peace in 2012, on the theme «Educating young people about justice and peace.» The diplomatic effort of the Holy See has been strongly focused on nurturing democracy, as well as, under the influence of Benedict XVI, to make Truth a pillar of its diplomatic relations. «In Truth, Peace» was the theme of the first message for the World Day of Peace signed by Pope Benedict.

In his Istanbul remarks, Ayuso made an analysis of what had happened after the Arab Spring. He explained that «the first outcomes of the Arab awakening have been the victories of Islamic political parties in Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt.» He underlined that, surely, it was an outcome of democracy, since these parties «adopted a pragmatic and moderate language.» But now – he added – «there is a need to follow up and to further develop and nurture a culture of democracy.»

Ayuso also highlighted what the following-up steps were: «Develop a clear role for the law, according to which everybody is equal before the law» and at the same time «develop the appropriate state institutions and have them serve all the citizens.» Ultimately, the elections held in the countries of the Arab Spring could be considered just «a first step to establish the legitimacy of those who must ipnow speak on behalf of the people.» Finally, Ayuso warned about the danger that «democracy can potentially be used to legitimate extremist and fundamentalist ideologies.»

In hindsight, all the concerns raised by Ayuso have dramatically come to the fore in Egypt. Father Khalil Samir Khalil, a Jesuit expert on the Middle East, also pointed out to problems with the Egyptian revolution, when he presented the Aid to the Church in Need Annual Report on Religious Freedom.

Father Samir recounted: «At the beginning, young people took to the streets united. Copts and Muslims were together. Their slogans brought into mind the 1919 revolution against English domination, when priests and imams marched alongside each other to demand independence under a flag with the crescent and the cross. These protests led to the 1920 Anglo-Egyptian Agreements and to Egyptian independence in 1922. That alliance occurred once again in Tahrir Square in Cairo during the January 25, 2011 revolution. Christians made a human chain to protect Muslims from the army during Friday prayers, and vice versa on Sunday, for the Christians to attend Mass. After the fall of Mubarak – who ruled Egypt for 20 years – the number of fundamentalists increased and took control of the protests. At that point, young people took to the streets once again, to reiterate that the final goal of the revolution was a secular and equal citizenship for all, and calling for the ability of living out one’s faith freely and without any kind of constriction.»

However, it was not possible to prevent the fundamentalist drift, which led to the democratic electoral victory of the Muslim Brothers and after that to the efforts by president Morsi (later deposed by the army, who took over control of the government) to produce a Muslim Constitution.

In this context, the Church acted as it should: trying to protect its community.

When the chaos in Egypt had just begun, Father Rafic Greiche, the spokesperson of the Egyptian Catholic Church, stressed to the agency AsiaNews that «we cannot call what is going on in Egypt a coup. The army decided to protect a pacific revolution organized by young people of Egypt, which was supported by millions of Egyptians in the country. If there had been a coup, the military would have immediately appointed one of their own as ad-interim president. They would have changed the government and take over power.»

Instead, the army– Father Greiche said – «is not part of the political system, it is just leading the dialogue among the parties. The current ad-interim head of state is not a politician, but a “technocrat,” Adli Mansour, the head of the Constitutional Court. He promised that he will form a provisional government comprised by a coalition embracing all the parties and institutions in Egyptian society.»

Yet, there are observers who think that the fact that the army is managing the transition can be viewed as the end of the Tahrir Square revolution.

Among these observers, the Italian journalist Paolo Caridi, who lived in Egypt. On her web site Invisible Arabs, she underlines that «Egypt started exploding the moment it applauded the parade of fighter aircrafts in the sky of Tahrir, in the exaltation of a people that put itself (once again) in the hands of the republican system born with Gamal Abdel Nasser, thinking about liberating themselves from another abuse of power, that of the conservative leadership of the Muslim Brothers.»

There are many diverging opinions, showing just how difficult it is to take a stand about the Egyptian situation and about other complex situations. This is the reason why the Church, more than going into politics, appeals for reconciliation and dialogue, the only diplomatic weapons she is provided with to carry on its international agenda. An international agenda entirely rooted in the integral humanism, which goal is the common good.

Egyptian situation is an example of how the religions can be used by political power. There are no religious conflicts at all, but religious belonging is used and pushed to create a social split. After the clash between soldiers and Christians that killed 26 people (a clash that came after an escalation of violence against Christian: recent attacks included the killing of Coptic youths in Moqattam and Embaba, the cutting-off the ear of a Copt, attacks on the Churches as well as preventing the governor of Qena from occupying his post because he is Christian), very few people is doubtful about the fact that – as Joannes Zakaria, Coptic Catholic Bishop of Luxur, put it - «attacks against Christians in Egypt are being incited by groups of Mubarak followers or Islamic extremist from Saudi Arabia. It is more a political matter than religious».

They had been defined «sectarian fights», but they would be fomented by the Supreme Military Council. The high military hierarchies are in some ways playing with the delicate relationship between Copt and Muslims. The appeal issued by Benedict XVI a few days after the violence that took place in Cairo was also aimed to underline this situation. The Pope said he was united in sorrow with the families of the victims and with the Egyptian people, who he said, were being torn apart by attempts to undermine the peaceful co-existence between communities in the country. Pope Benedict underlined the importance of preserving that co-existence, especially he said, at this time of transition and he urged the faithful to pray , so that Egypt can enjoy a true peace based on justice, respect for freedom and the dignity of every citizen.

One of the 26 shot dead during the clash between Christians and soldiers was a young Copt Christian. He was in Tahrir Square, as many other young people. Nobody was conscious he was Christian. Because there was no religious color in the pacific Egyptian revolution.

But now the pressures to the Supreme Military Council to withdraw the power and leave it to a civil and elected government came not just from the people of Tahrir Square, but also from the new social movements and political parties that had been generated by the revolution. The passage to a civil government has been requested by all the candidates to the presidency of Egypt and by all the parties – included the Muslim Brothers’ one. The request came out together with the request to change the electoral law, decided in a top-down way from the Military Council. Just a few days ago, the Scaf – the government of transition – decided to modify the art. 5 of the electoral law, thus yielding to the pressures. About 48 hours after the decision, Cairo was theater of violence. Journalist and witnesses speak about the repression of the Army, accused to run down the demonstrator with the vehicles and to have shot true bullets, and not just tear gas. Why this disproportionately high reaction?

Religions play an important role on the balance of the region. After the soldiers attack against Christians, a dangerous threshold has been passed. And it has been passed through the use of salafists – linked to radical Islam –  to let the authority that manage the security of the Countries – as the Army and the old State Security – renewed in the name, not in the men – to push on stability and safety of the country. The strategy has not changed after the Arab Spring. At the beginning of 2011, in Alexandria of Egypt, an attack had been moved toward a Coptic Church. After the revolution, it had been discovered that the attack had been directly inspired by the powerful Habib el Adly, Minister of the Intern of Mubarak government now imprisoned in Tora and accused of the killing of about a thousand people in Tahrir Square and in all the Egypt during the Thawra.

The strategy had always been the same in Egypt, where the Coptic Community have faced increasing marginalization after the 1952 coup d’état led by Gamal Abdel Nasser. Until recently, Christians were required to obtain presidential approval for even minor repairs in churches. Although the law was eased in 2005 by handing down the authority of approval to the governors, Copts continue to face many obstacles and restrictions in building new churches. These restrictions do not apply for building mosques.

The Coptic community has been targeted by hate crimes and physical assaults. The most significant was the 2000–01 El Kosheh attacks, in which Muslims and Christians were involved in bloody inter-religious clashes following a dispute between a Muslim and a Christian. International Christian Concern reported that in February 2001, Muslims burned a new Egyptian church and the homes of 35 Christians, and that in April 2001 a 14-year-old Egyptian Christian girl was kidnapped because her parents were believed to be harboring a person who had converted from Islam to Christianity.

In 2006, one person who was claimed to be both drunk and mad, attacked three churches in Alexandria, left one dead and from 5 to 16 injured, although the attacker was not linked to any organization. In May 2010, The Wall Street Journal reported increasing «waves of mob assaults» by Muslims against Copts, forcing many Christians to flee their homes. Despite frantic calls for help, the police typically arrived after the violence was over. The police also coerced the Copts to accept “reconciliation” with their attackers to avoid prosecuting them, with no Muslims convicted for any of the attacks. In Marsa Matrouh, a mob of 3,000 Muslims attacked the city’s Coptic population, with 400 Copts having to barricade themselves in their church while the mob destroyed 18 homes, 23 shops and 16 cars.

These are number that are the nitid picture of what the Pope wrote in the last message for the World Day of Peace. The Pope singled out Christians as the religious group that suffers from the most persecution on Thursday, denouncing lack of freedom of worship as an «intolerable» threat to world security. The message reflected a pressing concern by Benedict in recent months for the plight of Christian minorities in parts of the world, especially in the Middle East.

Christian minorities that are on the move. The Egyptian Census of 1897 reported the percentage of Non-Muslims in Urban Provinces as 14.7%( 13.2% Christians, 1.4% Jews). The Egyptian Census of 1986 reported the percentage of Non-Muslims in Urban Provinces as 6.1%( 5.7% Christians, 0% Jews). The decline in the Jewish representation is interpreted through the creation of the state of Israel, and the subsequent emigration of the Egyptian Jews. There is no explanation for a 55% decline in the percentage of Christians in Egypt.It has been suggested that Egyptian censuses held after 1952 have been politicised to under-represent the Christian population.

But the decrease of Christian population is a matter of fact for the whole Middle East, as pointed out in the recent Synod dedicated to the Middle East.

The scenario outlined in Egypt risks to be the most authoritative forecast of what will be the situation of the Middle East. Everything is truly complex, and deals with religions, policy and the regional balance. What is going on is really well pictured out by the story of Hani Bushra, that explains the use of the mob from who wants to assure order and stability. Here’s an extract of his story:

«We reached the officer (rank of general), and the first thing that I did was to show him my U.S. passport and told him that I am now under his protection. I told him that I was attacked because I was a Christian. One of the men who is a policeman but wearing civilian clothing began to talk to the general that I was a Christian and that I institigated the mob to attack me and that I am carrying weapons in my bag. The officer, who had seen my passport, told him to shut up. This policeman in the civilian clothing seemed to be the coordinator between the mob and the police. The general pushed me back behind the cordon of CSF soldiers, but I wanted to get my phone back, and so I went out again. The person who had stolen my phone was right there, and I told the general that I wanted my phone back. As I was talking to the general, a group of policemen were around me, one of them was behind me poking my butthole with his stick. I turned around and said that if you want to fuck me in the ass, you should be man enough to fuck me in public. At that point the policeman in civilian clothing who had earlier clashed with me called me a liar, and the general once again told him to shut up. I was assigned a young officer to protect me. My phone was gone, and they wanted to protect me until it was safe. I met two young officers, a first and second lieutenants, who were very respectful and were concerned for me. I told them that I hope that when they grew in their rank, they would always remain this professional. They were so nice that one of them let me use his phone so that I can call Happy and tell him that I was okay».