Hosni Mubarak

1 Degree

Pope John Paul II and Hosni Mubarak 

The Egyptian dictator of the past 30 years seems to be in a spot of trouble these days.  It appears that a revolution is brewing in Egypt.  Dictatorships have never been a good long-term solution, yet The United States has made friends with many such governments over the years.  (Click these links to learn about Nicaragua, Iran, and Iraq) The pretense for these friendships is that they may be evil, but they are less evil than Communism (although lately, the US is trying to become allies with Communist China, a very evil country by any measure.)  The popes of the 20th Century and now would most certainly disagree with this foreign policy.  For them, it is not an either or, but a both and argument.  You cannot support either a dictatorship nor a communist government. 

Conversation is the beginning of peace.  If the Vatican is in conversation with a leader or a government, it is not necessarily condoning that leader or government.  A message cannot be sent through closed lines of communication.  The popes have encountered....

Yasir Arafat, head of a violent organization that has a
history of anti-Christian and anti-Jewish activities,

Hamid Karzai, corrupt dictator of Afghanistan.
Here he is at Pope John Paul II's funeral.  President
Karzei's government is oppressive of women,
Christianity, and individual freedoms.

Staunchly anti-Fascist, Cardinal Pacelli, (later Pope Pius XII)
signs a Concordat with Germany in order to insure religious
freedom for Catholics living in the lands of the Third Reich.
He is careful to define "Catholic" as anyone with a baptismal
certificate.  Hundreds of thousands of Jews were saved during
the years that this concordat was honored by Hitler.  The Catholics
printed baptismal certificates continuously.

My fear for Egypt during this revolutionary time is for the Coptic Orthodox Church.  The Coptic Church has been out of communion with the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches for many hundreds of years due to a linguistic misunderstanding.  Patriarch Shenouda III of the Coptic Church has openly supported the Mubarak dynasty with support of Gamil Mubarak as the next Prime Minister.  

Gamal Mubarak, son of Hosni, and Patriarch Shenouda III of the Coptic Church

Now that the Mubaraks seem to be losing their grip on power, will the Coptics be slaughtered in the streets and driven out of Egypt as the Iraqi Christians were?  

Please pray for our Brothers and Sisters in Egypt.