Coptic Orthodox Church (NSW) Property Trust Amendment Bill 2003
Reverend the Hon. Dr GORDON MOYES: During World War II I was a child in Box Hill in Victoria. My neighbours were Mr and Mrs Magdy Massoud, formerly of Egypt. It was the first time in my life I heard the word “Copt”. Later, in 1980, I became good friends with Dr Samuel Habib in Cairo, and I am glad to see that Bishop Daniel remembers that great, beloved friend. He helped me greatly in my understanding of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
The bill will amend the Coptic Orthodox Church (NSW) Property Trust Act to reflect the new constitution that has come into place as a result of the appointment of Bishop Daniel. The Act was amended in 1993 to change the definition of the board to reflect the then constitution of the church. Under the Act, trustees are members of the New South Wales State board of the church. In October 2002 the new constitution for the diocese of Sydney and Affiliated Regions was approved by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III. We congratulate the church on its ministry in Australia and its growth over the years. Although it is generally recognised that the church has been in existence in Australia since the 1960s with the movement and migration from Egypt and other parts, from my own experience I know there were Copts in this country 20 years earlier. The original families that came out in the 1960s have now grown to thousands of people.
Anyone in this particular disciplined field who has spent a lifetime studying theology and the history of the Christian church knows the contribution made by the Coptic Church over 2,000 years. There will always be some who want to dispute the exact date of St Mark but no-one disputes that St Mark went to Egypt. No-one disputes that the church dates back to the first century. It is one of the few groups of Christian organisations or denominations in the world that can claim to be truly apostolic in the sense of being established by the Apostles and to have a continuous line of history inspired by some of the most incredible eras of persecution during that time.
For the best part of 600 years the Coptic Church was the major Christian body, unquestioned by other religions, in Egypt. Since the Arab invasion of Egypt in 1632 the Coptic Church has suffered constant pressure, not to say persecution. The Coptic Orthodox Church is one of the oldest apostolic churches in the world and, as has been mentioned by my distinguished predecessors in this debate, we are referring to the ancient people of Egypt who contributed so much to the history of the world. St Mark was one who established the main theological seminary in Alexandria, and I probably do not need to mention that the great library of Alexandria was one of the seven wonders of the world. Possibly the greatest act of vandalism in the history of the world was the destruction of all the learned knowledge said to be held in the manuscripts in the library at Alexandria. Out of that came spiritual renewal, because it was then the theological centre, established by St Mark and used over the years.
The Coptic Church has been a missionary church in spite of its ties to the land of Egypt and to the River Nile. It has taken the message of Christianity not only throughout the North Africa—I remind honourable members that by the fifth century the whole of North Africa was Christian—but also up the Nile to Sudan. I was very interested earlier to hear something I did not know: that Bishop Daniel is an expert in the language of the Nuba people. The Nuba people are one of the great races. Many people do not understand that they had pyramids in Nuba, pyramids even larger than those in Egypt. To this day, the Nuba people are a persecuted Christian minority. In Sudan the persecution at this moment is horrendous, and in the past few years literally thousands of people, including Coptic Christians, have been put to death in Sudan. The persecution that occurs in Egypt right to this moment, and in southern Egypt particularly, is very, very serious.
The missionary endeavours of Coptic Christians took the gospel of Jesus Christ to places like Switzerland—the great Coptic evangelist St Maurice is commemorated in the name St Moritz in Switzerland—Belgium and France. Many people do not understand that Copts were among the first missionaries to go to Ireland and that they made a significant contribution to Christianity there. From the time of the Council of Chalcedon in 451 the church has always had strong theology.
Many denominations, of which mine, the Uniting Church in Australia, is one, believe in the theology of the weather vane and move depending on which way the wind blows. They could well take a lesson from the orthodox churches in general, and the Coptic Orthodox Church in particular, which do not change with every wind of fashion or the latest paperback theology. They have held onto the central crux of the Christian faith. If one has had the privilege, as I have, of meeting with leading theologians around the world in world conferences, one will always notice that contributions coming out of the Coptic Orthodox Church are the most theological of all the contributions. They are always based around the centrality of the person of Jesus Christ, the authority of the Bible as the scriptures of God and centred on the incarnation, the logos, of Jesus Christ. They were the great strings played on the violin of Methodism, if I can make one little pitch for the Methodist Church.
Reverend the Hon. Dr GORDON MOYES: Thank you. My church was established 192 years ago in Sydney, but 192 years is but a minnow by comparison with the history of the Coptic Orthodox Church. John Wesley made it very clear in the words of one of the great hymns written by his brother, Charles: “Our God contracted to a span incomprehensively made man.” That is the heart of orthodox faith—the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ, who took upon himself our sins, who died upon the cross and was raised from the dead. As my learned leader of the Christian Democratic Party—I have been waiting to say that for years—said, the Coptic Orthodox Church is the largest church in the Middle East.
Over the years the Coptic Orthodox Church has provided leadership in the councils of churches around the world. The Coptic Orthodox Church is closely tied to the mother church in Egypt, as can be seen from the appointment of bishops. There will come a time when this tie will be threatened because second, third and fourth generation Coptic young people will want to have a greater say. I predict that in 20 or 30 years, when most of us will not be here, with the exception of the young members on the benches behind me, we will have to face the broadening and greater democratisation of boards. The authority of the bishops on issues such as property is essential in keeping the church true to its theology. The hierarchy and authority of the church has been important since the day of St Mark in Egypt.
If I might speak as a Protestant minister, I am warmed by the emphasis of the Coptic Orthodox Church on what we claim to be Protestant doctrines. The Protestant doctrines were actually the development of the great orthodox and, in some cases, Catholic doctrines. So we go back in tradition to the great doctrines of the faith: the Bible being God’s word, which is infallible and inspired and the written record of the living word, Jesus. We have the living word and we have the written word, which bears witness to the living word. From that have come the great sacraments. But what warms my heart about the sacraments as a practising minister is, first of all, baptism of believers by immersion.
Throughout my life I have only baptised by immersion because that is the biblical tradition. Baptism is extremely important in the same way that communion within the Coptic tradition is celebrated with unleavened bread, which is the traditional form of the celebration of sacrament. Throughout my 40 years as a priest celebrating the communion I have always used unleavened bread for the same reason I have practised baptism by immersion and the use of healing oil. In our sacrament of marriage our church believes, as does the Coptic church, that marriage is of a man and a woman. It is not a same-sex union. The holy orders of priests, the order of the episcopate, the oversight of the church, the priesthood of ministries, and the priesthood of all believers, as we would say in the Protestant tradition, together with deacons, are doctrines we share with our Coptic friends.
Over the years the Copts in Australia, despite their small number, have always been very active in inter-church relationships. They have taken a leading role within ecumenical councils, such as the Australian Council of Churches, the National Council of Churches, and the New South Wales Council of Churches. They have rooted themselves in Australian society. They hold their heads high among the denominations of this country. I believe that they are helping those of us whose denominations are wandering away from the great foundations of the scriptures and the sacraments.
The Islamic persecution that has been faced by Copts in Egypt, the Sudan, and other places in Egypt is virulent to this day. I receive the Ecumenical Press Service via e-mail, and almost every day I read of deaths in the Middle East as a result of fundamentalist Islamic persecution of these Christians. Remarkably, when I have spoken with Coptic priests and monks I have never heard one word of vendetta, hatred, or opposition to the people of Islam. That is extraordinary, because there are other people who are persecuted around the world who would like to see the end of persecution. But the Copts are interested in putting down their roots, turning the other cheek, practising forgiveness, and taking it upon themselves to suffer vicariously because they believe that through their suffering they are sharing the suffering of Christ. I commend this bill and I praise, without reservation, the people of the Coptic Orthodox Church.