Fears for Christians in North Africa: The Church of England Newspaper, Feb 25, 2011 p 7.

Fr Marek Rybinski

First published in The Church of England Newspaper.

The Bishop of Egypt and North Africa has offered his condolences to the Catholic Church in North Africa following the murder of a Polish missionary priest in Tunisia.

On February 18, Archbishop Mouneer Anis wrote to Archbishop Ghaleb Badr of Algiers offering his prayers and support after he learned of the “tragic death of Fr Marek Rybinski of La Manouba, in Tunisia. He was found dead and decapitated this afternoon.”

The Area Bishop for North Africa, the Rt Rev Bill Musk, who also serves as rector of St George’s Anglican Church in Tunis, attended the funeral mass of the murdered priest, whom he called a “lovely priest and much loved in the school community where he served.”

In a statement released on February 20, the Interior Ministry vowed to punish those responsible for the “odious crime” which it said appeared to be the work of a “group of extremist terrorist fascists.”

Slitting the throats of their victims has been a hallmark of Islamic terrorist activities from the 2002 murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl to the January 7, 2011 murder of 36-year-old Asha Mberwa, a mother of four murdered in Somalia for having converted to Christianity.

The sanction Islamist terrorists take for killing comes from Surah 47:4 of the Koran, which says, “Therefore, when ye meet the Unbelievers (in fight), smite at their necks; at length, when ye have thoroughly subdued them, bind a bond firmly (on them): thereafter (is the time for) either generosity or ransom: until the war lays down its burdens. Thus (are ye commanded).”

Secular autocrats have been toppled from power in recent weeks in Tunisia and Egypt, while Libya, Algeria, Bahrain and Jordan have seen anti-government protests. The possibility that Islamic militant groups like the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt will gain power has Christian leaders in the Middle East worried that the attacks born by Christians in Iraq following the collapse of Saddam Hussein will soon be visited upon them.

However, Tunisia’s Islamist Ennahdha, or Renaissance Party, which had been banned under the former regime of President Ben Ali denounced the murders. Party leader Rached Ghannouchi, who returned to Tunisia last month from exile in London, denounced the killing and an attack on Tunis’ Grand Synagogue, urging “vigilance in order to ward off anything that could spark anarchy in our country.”

Archbishop Anis called upon Christians across Egypt and North African to turn their hearts toward God in prayer. “We hold on to the promise of Christ who said that the ‘gates of hell will not prevail’,” he said and asked “May the Lord protect his church.”