Bishop Moussa, the Orthodox Church’s bishop of the youth, called on the Copts staging demonstrations before the Egyptian Radio and Television Union building to end their protest.
Moussa also called on Salafis to revise their ideology, just as members of the Jama'a al-Islamiya revised their views and renounced violence.
“Such a revision would be in accordance with the tolerant teachings of Islam,” he said. “And all Egyptians would gain from renouncing violence.”
Moussa also asked that the law be firmly and justly applied to everyone in order to prevent recurrences of violence.
“The church has confidence in the Egyptian judiciary and the military council,” he said.
The bishop denied claims that the revolution had created a lack of security in the country. ”The Egyptian revolution was pure and will bear fruit in the near future,” he said, blaming the counter-revolution for the sectarian violence that erupted in the Imbaba neighborhood on Saturday.
Moussa also denied that Prime Minister Essam Sharaf was lenient. “He works without any security cover, and he took responsibility in harsh conditions,” he said.
On the issue of Kamelia Shehata, the woman who is said to have been held against her will in a church for having converted to Islam, Moussa said he had never met her, but stressed that she had not converted. “She is 100 percent Christian,” he said.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
