
Amid the pain and suffering in the Middle East, it is good to be reminded that beautiful things also happen there.
One such remembrance came on Oct. 11 with the funeral of Father Simaan Ibrahim in Muqattam, in southeast Cairo. It was a funeral, with much lament, but also a joyous occasion that drew 30,000 people to worship in the monastery of St. Simaan the Tanner church, which he had founded and led for 50 years.