As we approach Coptic Easter, Embrace Chair of Trustees and Canon of Westminster and of All Saints Cathedral, Cairo Canon Anthony Ball reflects on the idea of freedom, encouraging us to follow the example of the Church in Egypt by using our freedom to promote the freedom of others.

10-15% of Egypt’s 100 million population is Christian, the vast majority being Coptic Orthodox.  The Copts are one of the Oriental Orthodox family of churches who, along with the Eastern Orthodox, will celebrate Easter this Sunday 2nd May. The Church in Egypt serves a vital role in reducing poverty, marginalisation and the abuse of fundamental rights.

Did you see anything of the pageant organised by the Egyptian government as it moved 22 mummies from the Egyptian Museum to their new purpose-built home in Fustat in Southern Cairo?  It took place on 3 April, which was the Western Church’s Holy Saturday and, here at Westminster Abbey, we were preparing to live-stream the Paschal Vigil service. 

There was a poignancy in watching the moving of the mummies of King Ramesses II (lead candidate for Pharaoh at the time of the Exodus) and his father Seth I (who would have ordered the killing of new-born male Jewish children) and then going on to hear the story of God’s liberation of the people of Israel, told as part of the Easter Vigil.  This year I found the images and resonances of “freedom” to be particularly profound as we marked a second Easter in lockdown, but with a new found hope engendered by the vaccination roll-out, and with the end of restrictions now in sight.  

 The almost over-powering cocktail of emotions somehow accentuated the journey through Holy Week.  I recalled the stone in the compound of the All Saints Cathedral in Cairo, so significant in my own faith journey, which displays the prophetic verse “out of Egypt I called my son” (Hosea 11.1).

The mummies left “Liberation Square” – so named following the 1952 Revolution which changed Egypt from a monarchy to a republic - to be received into their new home by the current Head of State, President Sisi. Tahrir Square was the iconic site of the 2011 Revolution that swept President Mubarak from power, and, two years later, the protests that culminated in a military coup and General Sisi’s subsequent election as President.  

The whole concept of political freedoms and human rights about which Egyptians (and others in the Arab world) protested a decade ago would have been completely alien to the kings and queens of ancient Egypt: witness the response to God’s “Let my people go”.  Great strides have been made in recognising freedom as an essential component of human dignity and something that goes well beyond the political dimension: modern-day authorities have to strive to reduce poverty, marginalisation, as well as the abuse of rights.  The church in Egypt also sees this as a key part of its own vocation.

The old adage “if you love someone, set them free” may have been popularised by Sting (showing my age!) but it could well serve as a motto for the church’s social witness.  The churches’ love for people helps to set them free. When I lived in Cairo in the early 1990s (learning Arabic as a young diplomat) I recall the wife of one of my colleagues explaining her involvement in a project to help the “Zabaleen” – those who eked out a living on the rubbish dumps outside the city.  Years later, as Chair of Embrace, I visited Sister Maria, a remarkable Coptic nun, to witness the transformational work she is doing within the Zabaleen community, through the Salaam Centre.  Freedom comes in many forms, and the unconditional love that characterises the Centre’s work can help to release people from drug addiction, domestic abuse and from ignorance of their basic rights (like registering a child’s birth or access to utilities).   

In the Middle East the descriptor “protestant” carries problematic political overtones, so “evangelical” is preferred – and is usually the word found in Arabic communications even when Protestant is used in English translations.  Embrace is a non-denominational organisation and works across the range of Christian organisations – Catholic, Orthodox and Reformed.  As in the West, there can be tensions or disagreements within, and between, denominations. The Egyptian courts are currently considering, for example, whether the Anglican church is (or has to be) part of the Protestant Churches of Egypt.   Both sides, thankfully, live out the “if you love someone ...” motto in their ministry to others, as Embrace witnesses in the fantastic projects run by our partners CEOSS and Episcocare promoting healthcare, education, empowerment and refugee welfare.   I wish the motto could apply as much to church politics as to mission and ministry but, so far alas, various attempts to mediate and offer compromises have been unsuccessful. Prayers continue.

The gospels bring us back to Jesus’ ministry and show it unfolding one person at a time.  The warm-hearted and visionary (Coptic) Bishop Thomas walks that path.  Some years ago he established a retreat centre, Anafora, as a place of learning and reconciliation.  In the early days I remember visiting and being surprised to learn that even such a basic thing as helping a woman to learn to ride a bicycle was a controversial step in the traditional communities of Upper Egypt. Freedom comes in many forms!

The freedom God provided for the people of Israel was freedom from political and social oppression. “If you love someone, set them free” – a powerful prospect as we reflect on the hopes and joys of this Easter season, even as we recognise the work still to do.

If you get the chance to visit Egypt and any of these projects – take it.  Whether or not you visit the pharaohs in their new home, spare a thought for the ways in which your power might be oppressing others... and then renew your commitment to savour your own freedom, and promote it for others.