wfn.org | ACNS3420 Bishop Clive Handford and Bishop Mouneer Anis visit

["Anglican Communion News Service" <acnslist@anglicancommunion.org>]

ACNS 3420     |     EGYPT     |     24 APRIL 2003

Bishop Clive Handford and Bishop Mouneer Anis visit The Grand Iman of 
Al-Azhar

During a recent visit to Egypt, Bishop Clive Handford, the President
Bishop of the Province of Jerusalem and Middle East and the Rt Revd
Mouneer Anis, Bishop in Egypt, visited the Grand Iman, Dr Tantawy. They
had a very constructive discussion about the situation in the Middle
East and stressed the importance of rebuilding Iraq as soon as possible
through combined efforts with the UN involvement as well as the Arab
countries. The people of Iraq should have a central role in this process
of rebuilding Iraq. Bishop Clive stressed the point that this war was
not a religious war and it is not a conflict between Islam and
Christianity but it was a political one.

Bishop Clive also mentioned that there have been Christians in Iraq
since the first centuries of the life of the Church. They recently
suffered from the previous regime and the sanctions. Now they are
looking forward to playing a role in rebuilding their country.

St George's Episcopal Church in Baghdad was built in 1930. It suffered
damage in the Gulf war in 1991 and was repaired but it was damaged again
during this war. It was a house of worship for people from different
nationalities and we hope that it will resume this role in the near
future.

The Palestinian / Israeli conflict should not be forgotten and it needs
to be dealt with as soon as possible to put an end to this tragic
situation, bearing in mind that it is the origin of the Middle Eastern
conflicts.

The Rt Revd Mouneer Anis
Bishop in Egypt

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