February 25, 2011. Egyptian Cardinal Antonios Naguib is the main leader of the Coptic Catholic Church in Egypt. He made clear that the riots which caused the fall of Mubarak have no religious connotations and that Christians and Muslims are working together to rebuild the country.


Card. Antonios Naguib
Patriarch of Alexandria of the Copts (Egypt)
“The new regime in Egypt is the beginning of a peaceful movement to renew the Constitution, the State, and the regime. It's a search for a state that is not based on the authority of the police, or the dictatorship of one person, and not on a religious basis, but on the authority of a civil, democratic, free state. A state with civil and religious liberty in which there is room for everyone.”

Cardinal Naguib says that during the riots, Egyptian Christians and Muslims fought together to defend their homes from looting, when police failed to protect them in the face of chaotic riots.  

Card. Antonios Naguib
Patriarch of Alexandria of the Copts (Egypt)
“When the curfew sounded, men armed with clubs and knives, would take turns keeping watch at night. In building, which sometimes, they didn't know the others that lived there. Women brought food and drink for both Muslims and Christians alike. In Tahrir Square and everywhere else, they were together because they all defended the same values.”

The Cardinal came to Rome for a meeting organized by the Sant'Egidio Community to promote dialogue between Christians and Muslims in the Middle East. A meeting they say will help increase the cooperation between the two groups throughout the region.