The Evangelical and Catholic Churches are considering canceling this year’s iftar celebrations due to the recent upheavals in Egypt, a move that would echo the decision of Pope Shenouda III, head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, to cancel this year's national unity iftar.
Priest Andrea Zaki, vice chief of the Evangelical Church, said the church is still mulling the idea over. A source from the Catholic Church has also declared that iftar may be cancelled this year.
On Sunday, a source within the Coptic Orthodox Church said that Pope Shenouda intended to scrap the national unity iftar this year in light of current conditions in Egypt.
However, Coptic Orthodox priest Salib Matta Sawiris, head of the Al-Salam Coptic Association, said he would hold the forty-third iftar for national unity in his capacity as head of an NGO, in the presence of Muslim and Christian clergymen.
Sawiris told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the iftar aims at achieving a rapprochement between people from different communities, and that all Egyptians must unite and collaborate so as not to become divided like the population of Sudan.
Kamal Zakher, a secular Coptic activist, said he supports canceling the iftar because it is an occasion that has deviated from its original aims and become the cause of over-spending.
In addition, said Zakher, this year has witnessed a rise in Islamism, meaning that if the churches invited Islamists to iftar, it might be embarrassing, whereas if they didn’t invite the Islamists, there might be trouble.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
