Negotiating Religion: Coptic Orthodox diaspora communities. Shifting identities, needs, and relations from Egypt to Europe and back

Descripción del proyecto

La diáspora ortodoxa copta y la identidad copta

Los cristianos ortodoxos coptos representan al menos el 10 % de la población de Egipto. A lo largo de la historia, los coptos sufrieron persecuciones y muchos huyeron a Europa, lo que dio origen a una importante diáspora copta a partir de la década de 1960. Sin embargo, nunca se ha estudiado de manera suficiente la diáspora en su conjunto. El proyecto financiado con fondos europeos NEGOTIA analizará las comunidades coptas de Europa teniendo en cuenta tres aspectos principales: identidades, necesidades y relaciones. Centrándose en la iglesia de San Giorgio Megalomartire, fundada por inmigrantes coptos en Roma en los años noventa del siglo pasado, y comparando los hallazgos con el Centro Cultural Ortodoxo Copto de El Cairo y con la iglesia de St. Petrus, der letzte Märtyrer de Hamburgo, el proyecto investigará la historia y el patrimonio cultural de estas comunidades para la deconstrucción y la reconstrucción de su perfil histórico-biográfico y discursivo-relacional a lo largo del proceso migratorio.

Objetivo

NEGOTIA aims to analyse the Coptic Orthodox diaspora communities in Europe with specific regard to three key aspects: identities, needs, and relations, in order to reconstruct the theoretical-practical framework of religious mediation. Its first goal is to examine the origins and the history of these communities, their cultural heritage and the peculiarities of their religion, but above all the dynamics of deconstruction and reconstitution of the material, emotional and relational dimensions experienced by such communities in the pathways from their homeland to abroad and back. Its final goal is to define the research field of religious mediation through an integrated, methodological approach to Copts, who are a peculiar case study to conceptualise this topic, which has never been systematically studied before. At the core of NEGOTIA stands the Church of S. Giorgio Megalomartire, established in Rome as an independent Diocese in 1995, with which I have had a stable and fruitful relationship since 2017. This community includes, among others: members with a migratory background; youth groups at least partially born in the diaspora; community religious and lay agents. It was a result of the 1960s migratory processes from Egypt and its profile is strongly characterised by continuous exchanges with their homeland. Thus, this Diocese will be analysed in close connection to the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center, established in Cairo in 2008 “to preserve the rich Coptic heritage as an important epoch in Egyptian history and Christian tradition worldwide”, that exemplifies one of the most interesting, contemporary Coptic community centres of Egypt. Through a transnational comparative perspective, the data arising from the analysis of the Roman Diocese will be merged with the data collected studying the Coptic Church of St. Petrus, der letzte Märtyrer in Hamburg, the last research focus. This Church, founded in 1979, is one of the member churches of the North German Communities.