Warnings against Atef Aziz

In the meeting on 01/06/1996

The Holy Synod requested that Dr. Atef Aziz and his group be watched and be prohibited from teaching.

In the meeting on 22/06/2002

The mistakes of Atef Aziz and his group were read as follows:

1. This is a special anti-Church group with one leader, Dr. Atef Aziz Mikhail, who offer him loyalty and total submission after God.
2. This group works in complete secrecy and in the style of cluster cells, where Dr. Atef trains a leadership group, then he attracts people through this group and this leadership through teaches them.
3. The group plans to spread throughout the Coptic Orthodox Church and from within it in the form of groups such as Faggala, Zamalek, New Cairo, Ezbet Al-Nakhl and Shubra. They consider that their main land is Assiut, and they have activities in Manfalut, Minya and other places, and they distribute the provinces to the leaders of the group.
4. Dr. Atef sees that he is entrusted with a special invitation from God to renew the Church, and some members of the group agree with this. They consider themselves the true Church of God and the New Testament Church that will replace the present, ruined and dead Church and its spoiled shepherds, and thus connect the current generation to the era of the Fathers in the fourth century AD, as the present Church was separated from the Fathers by thought and spirit.
5. From the recordings and writings, there appears a clear spirit of pride in which the congregation was struck, as evidenced by the messages they said that the Holy Spirit sent them visions or speaking with tongues, or by speaking directly to them.
6. Their approach is characterised by passion and emotions, as they repeat specific chants many times and with great emotion, such as "the power of Jesus' blood liberates us."
7. They focus on the presence of Satan and his power and control over empty places and believe that the Holy Spirit gave them a formula of special prayers that they recite on the water and sprinkle it on the places where they meet, as they believe that Satan comes out of their chests with coughing during prayer.
8. In the tapes there are records of speaking with tongues in a fake language, as well as in handwritten notes. Members of the group practised these matters, considering that they have special talents and heavenly messages. Dr. Atef believes that the talent of the tongues cannot stop in the Church.
9. Dr. Atef claims in the audio recordings that the Holy Spirit spoke to him.
10. Dr. Atef Aziz and his group use the method of deception, but after attending Assiut, they did not abide by the written pledges before a Synodal Committee formed by His Holiness the Pope in which they pledged to abide by the teaching of the Church and to distance themselves from the Pentecostal aspects. They pretend to do activities and works to undo [their wrong practices] but they lie to cover their secret activities or their improper purposes.
11. This group did not benefit from the opportunities that the Church provided them, nor from warnings and disciplines, but they continued in their plan and began publishing books to the people aimed at demolishing the official Church and establishing their own Church.

It has become dangerous to leave this group to deceive young men and women and consecrate some of them without the permission of the Church in preparation for the formation of a sect splintered from the Church. They also use the Priest Zephaniah as a Church cover for their destructive activities, which deviate from the sound Orthodox doctrine.

The Holy Synod decided to accept the recommendation of the Faith, Education and Legislative Committee to issue a decision that is published in the Al-Karaza magazine to prohibit this group, and everyone who follows it, from service, from teaching, and from the Church’s communion, i.e. communion from the sacraments, and all other Ecclesiastical Sacraments. The monk, Priest Zephaniah, was stripped from monasticism and priesthood, and returned to his birth name, which is Medhat Kamel Fahmy, and was prevented from priestly service and any other kind of service, whether in Cairo, Alexandria or any Diocese from the See of St. Mark. This is announced in a public newspaper. This decision is considered as depriving Dr. Atef from the Deaconate rank of Aghnostos [Reader], as well as the rest of the members of his group from the Deaconate or consecrated service. Among the names of the activists in his group are Dr. Nabil Adly Kamel, the engineer Salah Fayek Matta, Miranda Kamel Fahmy (formerly Tasoni Anastasia), Jalina Labib Ramzi (formerly Tasoni), Awatef Adib Elias (formerly Tasoni Christina), Isis Rifki, Suzy Kamel Hebeish, Sawsan Saad, Manal William, and Hala William.

The Synod also decided to accept the recommendation of the Faith, Education and Legislative Committee to issue a general statement to the Priests of Cairo and Alexandria, and all the Dioceses, signed by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III to warn of Atef Aziz Michael and his group. The text of the Synod's decision and the statement issued by the Holy Synod is published in Al-Karaza Magazine in the issue that was issued immediately after the current Pentecost. The statement mentions that Dr. Atef Aziz's group asserts that it is called to possess superior talents such as speaking in tongues and visions in which they see themselves in the rank of Patriarch, or the Priesthood of women, amongst a summary of the errors mentioned in the report of the Faith, Education and Legislative Committee.

The Holy Synod added to the text of the decision and the text of the statement that "the door of repentance is open to those who prove the that they have abandoned this group and its beliefs."