AFRICA/EGYPT - Events in Northern Africa pose interesting questions for the Christian community

Cairo (Agenzia Fides) - “We need to see how this transition phase will develop. Then on the basis of this development we as a Church will be able to make our evaluation,” says Fr Luciano Verdoscia, the Columban missionary living and working for many years in Cairo, to Fides. “That which is happening in Northern Africa has to raise questions for us as Christians, facing reality in the light of faith,” says Fr Luciano.
“I am a simple missionary working in Egypt, but from what I have observed, it seems to me that we in the West still do not realise how dramatic the situation is,” continues Fr Luciano. “Only 20% of European peoples, and this is probably an exaggerated figure by default, has a true Christian conscience. A large number of people state that they are Christian, but I fear that if these people were to be tested or enticed to join another religion, they would do so without any worries. Then there are those who are openly against the Church.”
“The situation, therefore, is not easy,” says the missionary. “The developments that are occurring in Northern Africa and the continued migration to Europe pose interesting questions about our future as Christians. If fundamentalist tendencies were to prevail in the Islamic world, we as the Church would need to think very seriously.”
“But there are also many positive signs of the work of the Spirit who, through these historic events, is cleansing the Christian community. Faith leads us to see reality with hopeful eyes because Christ is the Lord of history. So, on the one hand, we must be aware of these events, and on the other we must look towards the rising Sun, that is the new humanity that God is creating,” concludes Fr Luciano. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 26/3/2011)