Le prêtre des chiffonniers ou la construction d'une autorité religieuse au Caire entre charisme, tradition et clientélisme (1974-2014)

This study aimed at understanding how a priest that one day felt pushed by God to go and preach among the zabbaleen (Arabic name of the garbage collectors), built his charisma. He is now pretty famous among the Copts, as his weekly sermons and exorcisms are broadcasted on Christian satellite channels. His “evangelical” style brought him a lot of criticism but father Samaan always managed to stay inside of the Church keeping, at the same time, his margin of autonomy regarding the Coptic hierarchy. He did it using a famous miracle legend pretending that the Muqattam mountain, the place where the zabbaleen live, was moved by the Coptic patriarch in the 10th century to convince the caliph that the Christian faith was the right one. He built a huge place of worship dedicated to this miracle containing 7 churches that are carved in the Muqattam cliff which has become a very well known site among the Copts. More pragmatically he also built a political network with local authorities that protected him from any external pressure. More broadly this case study open to a questioning about the way local networks and practices articulate with international trends like American Evangelicals movements. The foundation of a place of worship that pretend to be deeply rooted in tradition, but being used for Pentecostal inspired religious meetings, is a good site of observation to understand how the different levels of interactions interweave in a local context. Moreover this compromise built by Abuna Samaan to stay inside of the Coptic Church without renouncing to his spiritual project, highlights the tensions between traditional and globalized trends.