Bishop Mouneer Anis of Egypt was elected President Bishop of Jerusalem and the Middle East in 2007. The diocese of Egypt has many young Sudanese refugees. Bishop Anis is fluent in Arabic, knowledgeable of the Koran, and committed to dialogue with the Muslim community.
A delegation from TEC visited Egypt and met with several Muslim leaders. They discussed the issue of homosexuality with the Muslims. Bishop Anis said to the delegation
We should have the courage to acknowledge that we are walking in a completely different directions. Our own diocese, spreading from Algeria in the west to the Horn of Africa in the east, faces a variety of cultural pressures of its own. In parts of Africa, including my own diocese, multiple wives and even concubines are still widely accepted and considered culturally normative. So we also face great pressures to ignore the biblical standard of the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman and to yield to the prevailing cultural notions of what is acceptable. However, we understand that part of what it has meant to be faithful Christians over the past two thousand years has been to be countercultural by standing in faithful witness to the Gospel and its demands, and therefore, in opposition to ever changing cultural norms and fashions.
While Anis has been critical of the Episcopal Church concerning human sexuality issues, he also declined to attend the Global Anglican Future Conference in Jerusalem, saying that it was neither the right time nor place for such a meeting. The upcoming primates meeting takes place in his home diocese.
Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge. I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.”
Psalm 16:1-2
Dear Heavenly Father,
The land of Egypt served as a place of refuge for the family of Israel when famine gripped the land. It served as a place of refuge for Joseph, Mary, and Jesus when Herod sought the death of the Messiah. Now it serves as a place of refuge for the Sudanese.
The leaders of the Anglican Communion will soon assemble in Alexandria. We cry out for them, Lord, for the sorrows of the Anglican Communion are multipled. May the primates always set You before them.
Stay at President Bishop Anis’s right hand. Be his counselor and instruct his heart, even at night. Do not abandon him. Bless Bishop Anis with the wisdom to recognize Your voice and follow Your instructions.
A long time ago, the Christ child may have called Alexandria his home. May the primates call the Christ their home and flee into His open arms. Amen.
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