{"id":27231,"date":"2018-02-06T07:52:45","date_gmt":"2018-02-06T07:52:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.acnmalta.org\/?p=27231"},"modified":"2018-02-06T09:48:21","modified_gmt":"2018-02-06T09:48:21","slug":"egypt-christians-still-face-discrimination-churches-acnmalta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acnmalta.org\/_oldsite\/2018\/02\/06\/egypt-christians-still-face-discrimination-churches-acnmalta\/","title":{"rendered":"EGYPT: Christians still face discrimination against churches &#8211; ACN Malta"},"content":{"rendered":"<style type=\"text\/css\"><\/style><h2><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>EGYPT<br \/>\nChristians still face discrimination against churches<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">For decades the construction and renovation of churches in Egypt have been obstructed by complex bureaucracy, resulting in the deterioration of church buildings and a shortage of places of worship for Christians.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Bishop Anba Macarius stated that in his diocese alone, which includes only Minya city and its immediate surroundings, 15 churches that have been closed by security order, and 70 villages have no church or any place to hold Christian worship. The shortage of churches has forced Christians to hold religious services in unauthorised premises, often incurring harsh penalties from the authorities as a result.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In the latest case, an Egyptian court in Giza governorate on 31 January found 15 people guilty of attacking a Coptic church south of Cairo, and also fined a Coptic man for illegally hosting the church on his premises.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">On 22 December a large group of Muslims gathered at the church building after Friday prayers, following a rumour that a church bell was to be put on the top of the building and that it would be turned into an official church. The mob broke into the building and vandalised the interior, chanting \u201cAllahu Akbar\u201d (\u201cAllah is the greatest\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The 15 attackers were given one-year suspended jail sentences and a fine equivalent to US$28 each for \u201cinciting sectarian strife, harming national unity and vandalising private property.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">However, the Coptic owner of the premises in the village of Kafr al-Waslin received a fine equivalent to $20,500 for hosting a church without a licence. The building had served as a meeting room for Copts and a nursery for over 15 years.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The local diocese had applied for a church license after the government passed its new church-building law in 2016. In October 2017 a cabinet committee started work on the legalisation of unlicensed churches, having received 2,650 requests from Coptic parishes waiting for a permit or license to renovate or build. Earlier this year the Ministry of Housing announced that Christians were allowed to meet in unlicensed churches while their registration applications were processed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Several churches in rural villages have had to be closed for security reasons owing to tension between radical Muslims and Copts. After local Muslims had reportedly complained that Christians were meeting illegally in the village of Ezbat Al-Forn in the Minya governorate, Copts were stopped from holding mass at a private home because they had no permit. Bishop, Macarius said that \u201cMuslims in the village have never objected to the prayers of the Coptic Christians in any place in Ezbat al-Forn.\u201d The local authorities are reportedly \u201cconsidering\u201d the Christians\u2019 request for a license to hold religious services at the residential property.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The Bishop expressed his disillusionment \u201cat the failure of negotiations with security authorities in Minya to reopen churches closed by security order\u201d because churches either lacked security approval or were considered offensive to Muslims and therefore a threat to social harmony.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">World Watch Monitor has reported that Copts have experienced similar problems in the villages of Kom El-Loufy, El-Galaa, and also in Saft el-Khirsa \u2013 a town of around 12,000, including approximately 70 Christian families, which has ten mosques but no church. In the village of Dabbous in Samalout, near Kom El-Loufy, Copts have not been able to meet in their church since 2005.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The governorate of Minya, south of Cairo, has a population of 5 million people, of whom 35-40 percent are Copts. It has experienced the greatest number of sectarian attacks, with more than 75 targeting Christian residents in the past six years.<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><\/h5>\n<h5><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em><strong>ACN Malta<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EGYPT Christians still face discrimination against churches For decades the construction and renovation of churches in Egypt have been obstructed by complex bureaucracy, resulting in the deterioration of church buildings and a shortage of places of worship for Christians.\u00a0 Bishop Anba Macarius stated that in his diocese alone, which includes only Minya city and its&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27233,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-newsletters"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - 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