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Protest failure may cost Egyptian church

Two priests with close links to Egypt have told the Catholic Herald that they fear the Egyptian Catholic Church may have lost credibility over its failure to back the protests that led to the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak.
Protest failure may cost Egyptian church
Published: February 15, 2011 03:25 AM GMT
Updated: February 15, 2011 03:27 AM GMT

Two priests with close links to Egypt have told the Catholic Herald that they fear the Egyptian Catholic Church may have lost credibility over its failure to back the protests that led to the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak. Fr Makarios Isaac, an Egyptian-born priest currently based in Kenya, said: “If we lose the youth in the Church, then we are done.” Fr Isaac, originally ordained for the Coptic Catholic Diocese of Minya, Egypt, and the former diocesan development director there, said the main Muslim and Orthodox leaders forbade participation in the protests. He told the Catholic Herald that the Coptic Catholic patriarch of Alexandria, Cardinal Antonios Naguib, told protesters to go home. The priest said he feared young people will “turn their backs on the Church”, and say: “You never stood with us … you never taught us to stand up for our rights.” Maryknoll Fr Douglas May, who worked in Egypt for 18 years of Mubarak’s nearly 30-year rule, said he thought “the Christian leaders in Egypt played it safe”. Fr May, now stationed in Nairobi, said: “I’m afraid that the Church leadership has lost its credibility with the Christian youth over this.” SOURCE Priests fear Egyptian youth will turn away from Church (Catholic Herald)

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