Egypt's Christians celebrate Coptic Easter
Photo credit: AP | Pope Tawadros II, the 118th pope of the
Coptic Church of Egypt, leads the Easter Mass at St. Mark's Cathedral in
Cairo, Egypt, late Saturday May 4, 2013. Egypt's Coptic Christians, who
make up about 10 percent of the country's 85 million people, have long
complained of discrimination by the state. They are the largest
Christian community in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Photos
The Orthodox Easter mass, meant to be a religious celebration that marks the resurrection of Jesus after his crucifixion, took place amid increased attacks on churches.
Egypt's Orthodox Coptic Christians, who make up about 10 percent of the country's 90 million people, have long complained of discrimination. Clashes between Muslims and Christians have become more frequent after a breakdown in security following the ouster of longtime authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak from power in a 2011 uprising.
It also comes as the country is deeply polarized, with secularist liberals, Christians and some Muslims deeply angry with the direction of the country and at odds with a largely Islamist bloc that supports President Mohammed Morsi.
The divisions played out in the church when the pope read out a list of names of Cabinet officials who had greeted the pope by phone. The crowd erupted in roaring applause at the naming of Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyeb of al-Azhar, the head of the Sunni Muslim world's pre-eminent seat of learning, who is believed to be in a power tussle with the president's Muslim Brotherhood backers. The crowd also applauded when Sheik Mazhar Shahin was named. The cleric who preaches at a mosque overlooking Tahrir Square, the epicenter of anti-government protests, had been temporarily suspended after a citizen complained that his sermons were critical of Morsi.
The evening prayer service, which lasted for several hours, was tightly guarded. High-level police officials, the US Ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson, as well as Muslim figures opposed to Morsi attended the mass.
The president sent a representative -- the country's housing minister-- to attend the prayer and Morsi spoke to the pope and the heads of other Christian churches in Egypt to greet them on the occasion.
Despite the display of unity, some religious figures have been accused of flaming sectarian tensions. Last month, residents of the area of Khusoos, a town just north of Cairo, said a local cleric incited violence against Christians after a Christian man killed his Muslim neighbor. They say the cleric called out on loud speakers for all Muslims with weapons to head out into the streets and protect their homes against Christian attacks. Four Christians were killed in ensuing clashes. The incident is being investigated by prosecutors.
The funeral for the four was an intense emotional outcry of anger against Morsi. Worshipers and mourners chanted against his rule and against his powerful Muslim Brotherhood group.
Immediately after the funeral, an angry mob threw firebombs and rocks at the cathedral. The violence left two people dead. One was identified as a Christian. Policemen had fired tear gas into the cathedral's grounds during the clashes, further stoking anger.
In a rare rebuke after the incident, the Egyptian pope last month criticized Morsi for not protecting the St. Mark Church, which also serves as the papal seat. Morsi had said that he considered the attack on the church on attack on him personally.
More recently, controversy brewed over comments by a Brotherhood leader who said that greetings to Christians should not compromise Islamic teachings.
But on Saturday, Saad el-Katatni, the head of the Brotherhood group's political party, wrote on Facebook an Easter greeting and prayed for unity.
"Egypt will not rise unless with the wings of all its Muslim and Christian children," he wrote. "Our Coptic brothers are our partners in this country."
Muslims believe in Jesus as a prophet, but do not believe as Christians do that he was the son of God. Muslim men are also permitted to marry Christian women, as the Muslim Prophet Muhammad had.
Head of the opposition Congress Party and former longtime Arab League chief Amr Moussa told The Associated Press from inside Cairo's main cathedral during mass that "Egypt is in a crisis."
"We will not get out of this crisis unless we are united," he said.
Roman Catholic Easter Sunday in preference to Greek Orthodox Easter Sunday. Is it any wonder that NY is bankrupt and its OTBs going bankrupt one after the other? See NY PML Sec 109 and NY Const. Art. 1, Sec. 3 etc. You might think that one as yet unidicted NY official with standing would avail themselves of a FREE formal or informal opinion from NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
See below
Letter: Why close racetrack on Palm Sunday?
Photo credit: AP | In this photo provided by New
York Racing Association, Stay Thirsty, left, with Ramon Dominguez
aboard, captures The G1 Cigar Mile horse race at Aqueduct in New York.
(Nov. 24, 2012)
To see what's wrong up in Albany, one only
needs to look at the fact that the Aqueduct Racetrack was closed on
Palm Sunday. On an average Sunday, The Big A has a total handle of
between $6 million and $7 million, of which New York
State takes a percentage.Racing also injects money into the industry, paying jockeys, trainers, grooms, etc. Hundreds of employees -- pari-mutuel clerks and racing officials -- help put on the show, which the state gets a piece of in income taxes.
All of this, worth thousands upon thousands of dollars, was lost because on an antiquated law. Not being allowed to race on Christmas or Easter is OK, but Palm Sunday? The New York Racing Authority races on Thanksgiving, and that's a holiday that the vast majority of us celebrate.
Changing this law would be a slam-dunk revenue creator.
Gerard Bringmann, Patchogue
Editor's note: The writer is both a racing fan and a practicing Catholic.
OPEN ON 1ST PALM SUNDAY, OTB RAKES IN $2M - NY Daily News
www.nydailynews.com/.../open-1st-palm-sunday-otb-rakes-2m-articl...
OPEN ON 1ST PALM SUNDAY, OTB RAKES
IN $2M. By Jerry Bossert / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS. Monday, April
14, 2003, 12:00 AM. Print · Print; Comment ...OTB FACES HAND SLAP OVER PALM - NY Daily News
www.nydailynews.com/.../otb-faces-hand-slap-palm-article-1.667233
Apr 16, 2003 – By Jerry Bossert
/ NEW YORK DAILY NEWS ... Aqueduct was also closed on Palm
Sunday, but OTB thrived on action from around the
country.
HI-
Thanks for the help. The item’s
below. I’d be happy to mail you a copy, if you give me a mailing
address.
Claude
Solnik
(631)
913-4244
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LI Confidential
> Stop scratching on holidays
Stop scratching on holidays
Published: June 1, 2012
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.
Preet
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