Cairo, the go-ahead for the regularization of 168 churches and Christian places of worship

Cairo, the go-ahead for the regularization of 168 churches and Christian places of worship

P. Rafic: the government intends to "put into practice" the provisions of the recent law on irregular places of worship. These are "administrative issues" to guarantee "legal status" to buildings. The Egyptian premier invites you to continue studying the dossiers and grant new permits if the requirements are met.

Cairo (AsiaNews) - The regularization of over a hundred new churches and Christian places of worship "is a positive step" and confirms that the government intends to "put into practice" what is foreseen "by the law on irregular places of worship approved a year and a half ago ". This is what stresses AsiaNews p. Rafic Greiche, spokesman for the Egyptian Catholic Church, commenting on the go-ahead for 168 churches and other Christian places of worship set up in recent days by the ministerial committee.

Led by Prime Minister and Minister for Housing Mostafa Madbouly, the commission has "legalized" 151 churches; another 17 are waiting to complete the necessary documentation. "The approval - explains the priest - concerns the churches that until now had not obtained the necessary authorizations. This is an administrative question, which aims to guarantee a legal status for buildings "of the Christian minority, recently the subject of a bloody attack by Islamic extremist groups.

In the last two months the commission has analyzed the conditions of the churches that had requested regularization, giving the go-ahead during a session attended by members of the Ministry of Justice, Antiquities and Affairs with Parliament. The premier has also indicated to continue to study the dossiers and proceed, if there are the requirements, to the regularization of other places of worship.

Already last April, the Egyptian government had authorized the approval of 166 between irregular churches and ecclesiastical properties, accelerating the process of approval of trials. Before the 2016 reform on Christian places of worship it was difficult to obtain the necessary documentation to build churches and houses of prayer. According to official statistics, almost 3800 applications for amnesty have been submitted to date.

In a nation of almost 95 million people with a large Muslim majority, Christians [especially Orthodox Copts] are a substantial minority of about 10% of the total population. Between 2016 and 2017 the country of the pharaohs recorded a series of bloody attacks , which involved the same Christian community.

In connection with the attacks, a military court sentenced 17 people to death in mid-October . However, the iron fist of the authorities did not stop attacks and violence. On 2 November, an armed commando attacked a busload of pilgrims in a desert area south of the capital, causing at least 10 deaths and several wounded.

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