"Mother of Catholic Churches not only in Cairo but in all of Egypt"... With these words, Father William Labib Faltas, the Franciscan, described the Church of Our Lady of the Transition in the Muski neighborhood of Cairo. This coincides with the church's celebration yesterday of the 170th anniversary of its current construction in a divine liturgy presided over by the Apostolic Vicar of the Latins in Egypt, Bishop Claudio Lurati.
And following the example of the Virgin Mary depicted in the central icon of the church, and like a mother gathering her children, believers and clergy from different Catholic denominations gathered in an ecumenical spirit, with the presence of several bishops of the Coptic Catholic Church, the Maronite and Syriac Catholic bishops in Egypt, and the regional minister of the Franciscan Order there. It was also noteworthy that Father Ibrahim Faltas, the Deputy Custodian of the Holy Land, was present.
Father William Valtz explained to "Asia Mina" that the purpose of the celebration is to remind people of the Franciscan presence in Egypt, which dates back to 1219 with the arrival of Saint Francis of Assisi in Egypt and his meeting with Sultan Al-Kamil in Damietta.
He added: "Our celebration coincides with another occasion, the 800th anniversary of the appearance of our Savior's wounds on Francis's body." One side of the church's nave is adorned with an altar in honor of our saint, featuring a painting depicting him receiving the stigmata from the crucified Christ, who appeared to him in the form of a seraphim angel; for Francis asked our Lord to experience the same sufferings of Christ and to love humanity as greatly as He loved it.
Father William revealed that "the current cathedral is merely the third building; the first one—which was a small church at the time—dates back to 1632, after the Venetian consul gifted the Franciscan monks land adjacent to his house.
He continued: "Later, the monks of the Muski Monastery built in Cairo both the Church of Saint Joseph (Downtown), the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Boulaq Abu El-Ala), and the Church of Saint Anthony the Great (Al-Mansy Street).
Father William concluded: "One of the most important tasks undertaken by the monks of the monastery was the formation of the Coptic Catholic clergy. They extended a helping hand to them, initiated sending them to Italy for education, and then their return to start forming the parishes." Even the monastery gifted them part of its building (the Church of the Holy Family today). In general, the Muski Monastery served as a starting point for several Eastern Catholic religious orders and communities to establish their first centers in the country.
It is worth noting that the Muski Monastery formed the largest reference point for the many foreigners coming to Egypt, such as Italians, French, Maltese, and others, especially since the time of Muhammad Ali Pasha. However, in the 1950s, due to political circumstances, most of them left. However, the monks did not succumb to reality; they quickly established the Franciscan Center for Christian Oriental Studies, one of the most important scientific and cultural beacons in the Arab world.