In an atmosphere of grief over the loss of the father and shepherd, the congregation of St. Julius of Akfahs Church in Ezbet Gerges received the body of the priest of the church, Fr. Samaan Shehata, who was martyred on Thursday morning.
The prayers were held in the presence of Their Eminences Bishop Stephanos, Bishop of Baba and Al Fashn, Bishop Raphael, Bishop of Downtown Cairo churches and Secretary of the Holy Synod, Bishop Gabriel, Bishop of Beni Suef, Bishop Agathon, Bishop of Magaghah and Adwa, and a number of priests, monks and huge numbers of the congregation.
HG Bishop Raphael delivered a sermon and said …
“With all faith and hope, we bid farewell to heaven a precious soul for the Church, the soul of Father Samaan, the whole Church, headed by HH Pope Tawadros II parade him to heaven.”
He added: “I have several messages I want to send through you, a number of messages we would like to send.”
The first, he said, we address to the Lord Jesus Christ: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword. For your sake we are being killed all day long” (Rom 8: 36-39). He said that persecution and terrorism shall not shake our faith or our love for Christ.
The second message, is to Fr Samaan. Again, the Bishop quoted the Bible: “When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony they upheld” (Rev 6:9). “We tell Fr Samaan: ‘Blessed are you! You used to stand [on earth] in front of the altar, now your soul is under the altar with those slain for the Word.”
The third message was addressed to those who loved Fr Samaan and are pained by his murder: Bishop Stephanos, Fr Samaan’s family and friends, and to all Copts the world over. “Please do not give Satan a chance to shake our love or faith. We should stand firm and realize that we tread a path full of peril till we reach the Kingdom of Heaven. Fr Samaan and all the martyrs have gone that way before us, and we too might tread the same path. But we are ready and willing, because that’s what our Christian faith and our clerical calling prepares us for.”
Bishop Raphael’s last message was to the security authorities in Egypt. “Since 1972,” he said, “terrorist acts and attacks against Copts have steadily escalated. Even though, admittedly, security measures alone cannot stem the tide of crime against Copts, these security measures have been severely flawed. Criminals are seldom caught; when some are caught they are frequently not brought to justice. This is practically a carte blanche for whoever wishes to commit crimes against Copts, since they can be sure there would be no retribution.
“But our lives are not cheap,” he said, “and crimes against us will not go unanswered. If there is no justice on earth, Heaven will exact justice.” He raised a strong warning: “Beware the justice of Heaven. We raise our case to Christ.”
