From 7 to 11 October, the Episcopal Representative of the German Bishops’ Conference for the Catholic Academic Exchange Service (KAAD), Bishop Dr Dr Anton Losinger, travelled to Cairo together with our President, Fr Dr Hans Langendörfer SJ, our Secretary General, Dr Nora Kalbarczyk, Prof Dr Walter Bruchhausen (University of Bonn and member of KAAD’s Academic Board), Nils Fischer (Head of the KAAD Middle East Department) and Helen Meier (KAAD Public Relations Officer).
Egypt is one of the KAAD’s partner countries. By supporting young academics and promoting ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, KAAD contributes to strengthening social peace. KAAD works locally with the Coptic Orthodox and Coptic Catholic Churches as well as with various religious orders, such as the Franciscans, Dominicans and Jesuits, and is in close dialogue with al-Azhar University. Since 1958, the year in which KAAD was founded, almost two hundred Egyptian students and researchers have been supported; many of them are Coptic Orthodox Christians.
Against this background, the delegation met Pope Tawadros II, head of the Coptic Orthodox Church worldwide, in Cairo, who emphasised the importance of KAAD’s funding for ecumenical, interreligious and academic exchange in general and for the development of the educational landscape in Egypt in particular.
Together with the Dominican community at the Institut dominicain d'études orientales (IDEO), the delegation celebrated Holy Mass before exchanging views with Prof. Dr Emmanuel Pisani OP, Director of the IDEO, on the situation of the Christian communities in Egypt, the specific work of the IDEO and the opportunities for a cooperation in KAAD’s local scholarship work. In the evening, Emmanuel Pisani OP guided the group through old Islamic Cairo, the so-called Azhar quarter, which received its name by the institution of Al-Azhar Mosque and University.
The delegation was invited by the former Vice-Rector of Al-Azhar University and current Advisor to the Grand Imam for Education and Culture, Prof. Dr Abdedayem Nossair, for talks on interreligious dialogue in Egypt and on academic exchange between Azhar and German universities with him and the teaching staff of the German-language section for Islamic Studies. KAAD has supported and still supports outstanding Muslim students and doctoral candidates from Al-Azhar University for their studies in Germany, who become bridge-builders between the Muslim majority society and the Christian minority after their return to Egypt. “Education makes a significant contribution to resolving conflicts and maintaining peaceful coexistence,” emphasised KAAD President Fr Dr Hans Langendörfer SJ.
In conversation with the Coptic Catholic Bishop Hani Nassif Wasef Bakhoum Kiroulos, the important role of the Coptic Catholic Church in the social and educational sector became clear. The Church maintains many social institutions and schools in Egypt, which are also open for the Muslim majority society, and thus the Church takes up huge responsibility for the Egyptian society as a whole.
On the eve of the International Academy we met with our alumnae and alumni as well as our Egyptian partner committee. Bishop Losinger expressed his great gratitude to the members of the partner committee for their continuous and long-standing commitment. In particular, he thanked Abuna Kamil William Sam'an, the president and founding member of the partner committee, which was established in 2002. Abuna Kamil will now retire from active work in the committee and join it as an associate advisor. Bishop Losinger honoured him as a “highly esteemed member of the KAAD family” and praised him as a “bridge-builder between Christians and between religions, with an open heart, deep understanding and inner peace.” Abuna Kamil received the KAAD Bene Merenti Medal for his extraordinary commitment.
Our Jordanian KAAD alumnus Prof Dr Zeyad Makhamreh, who also came to Cairo due to his participation in our International Academy (see report), was officially appointed member of the newly founded Jordanian partner committee. Zeyad Makhamreh was a member of the former Jordanian partner committee from 2015 to 2021 and now forms the newly established Jordanian partner committee together with KAAD alumnus Prof Dr Osama al Madanat. At the alumni evening, Zeyad Makhamreh personally received the certificate of appointment from KAAD President Fr Langendörfer SJ.
On the invitation of the Comboni Missionaries, our group celebrated a Holy Mess with St Joseph’s parish in Cairo, which was celebrated by Bishop Losinger and concelebrated by Fr Jacques-Marie Amlon MCCJ and Fr Langendörfer SJ. One of the most important pastoral fields of action of the Comboni Missionaries in Egypt is education; the Congregation runs schools in Cairo and Helwan.
Dr Nora Kalbarczyk, Prof Dr Walter Bruchhausen and Nils Fischer finally discussed KAAD’s scholarship programme and networking with Ronja Schiffer, Head of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) in Cairo. They talked about opportunities for networking with FES and local German institutions and the delegation learned more about the work of FES in Egypt. A central point of the discussion, following on from the topic of the International Academy, was the exchange on public health as an important social development issue in Egypt.
In order to gain a better and deeper understanding of Egypt’s culture and history, the programme included a guided tour of Christian Cairo and a guided tour of Ancient Egypt, as the historical sites make the country’s history tangible and its development easier to understand. With a guide from the Coptic Orthodox Church, the delegation visited the old Christian quarter and experienced the centuries-old ecumenical and multi-religious diversity of Old Cairo, i. e. the coexistence of Christians, Muslims and Jews in this place. During the guided tour through the Egyptian antiquities, the group benefited from the great expertise of the Egyptian KAAD alumnus Prof Dr Ahmed Osman, Professor of Egyptology at Misr University for Science and Technology. Together with the team from his department, he has made a significant contribution to research into ancient Egyptian burial culture in recent years and familiarised the KAAD group with the country’s rich history.
