A Week That Will Be Remembered
On the 11th January this year Australians were shocked to hear of the news that a busload of touring Australians were harmed in a violent road accident that occurred late at night along the Cairo to Alexandria desert road in Egypt.
Six Australians died from the accident while 26 people sustained injuries.
Four days after the accident, some of the walking wounded and relatives attended a wreath-laying ceremony at the site of the crash. The brief ceremony was performed by His Grace Bishop Marcos of the Egyptian Coptic Church, and was completed with flowers being laid on a portion of the rear window of the bus – the main piece of wreckage that still remains at the site.
This brotherly outreach by the Bishop and the Coptic Church to those in grief is to be commended. As we all know there is few times when Christ’s love is better shown than to strangers from distant lands. The value of the exchange between cultures is what I will remember from this tragedy, long after the wreckage has been cleared away and the media has stopped reporting the story.
It is at awful times like this that often we find who our friends really are. While the Western and Coptic Churches spent many centuries separated from each other, we have both continued to follow and obey the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this is what makes us brothers and sisters – in His name.
The Egyptian authorities should also be commended for their commitment to dealing with this tragedy in a swift and comprehensive way, so as to help the grieving families back in Australia as they try to piece together their lives.
As Australians and Copts joined together in the wake of this tragedy, can I recall what the Bishop Marcus was involved with only one week prior to the accident. Instead of unity the issue was division – and instead of an accident it was bloody murder.
Investigations were beginning into the killing of at least 20 Coptic Christians in the village of Al Kosheh over what has been described as the worst sectarian violence to hit Egypt in at least two decades.
Bishop Marcos was sent by Pope Shenouda to the area in order to investigate the conflict that quickly spun out of control. The scenes that he was greeted with were truly appalling – the wholesale destruction of human life and private property, and the torturing and mutilation of Coptic adults and children alike. We cannot ignore this kind of senseless violence any more than someone can ignore the tragic bus accident that killed all those Australians.
As you did with us, we as Australian Christians stand in love and solidarity will you as you continue your quest for justice, peace, democracy and human rights in your homeland. This violence needs to stop and it needs to stop now.
GORDON MOYES
