AFRICA/EGYPT - New rules for the construction of churches: Christians prepare their proposal

Cairo (Agenzia Fides) - The representatives of Churches and Christian communities in Egypt will gather next week to put the final touch on proposals and suggestions on the draft law which will be discussed in the next parliament, concerning the definition of new rules in the construction of places of worship in the country. "We want the new bill" explains to Fides Agency Anba Antonios Aziz Mina, Coptic Catholic Bishop of Guyzeh "to be discussed in the first legislative session of the new Parliament, when it is elected. This is why it is useful to prepare a draft law beforehand, where the problems have already been addressed and no time is wasted in the preliminary stages".
Last July, the officials of the Ministry of Justice convened the representatives of delegates from the various Churches and Christian communities to urge them to outline concrete proposals which aim to overcome all the problems related to the construction of churches that also marked the years in which Mubarak was in power. "In his qualifying points" refers Bishop Mina "our proposal, now almost ready, suggests that the construction of churches have the same requirements as the construction of private buildings, starting from the absence of disputes on land ownership where buildings of worship will be built. We also suggest that the feasibility and appropriateness of construction projects are assessed - taking into account, for example, the number of Christians in the area – by commissions subject to local authorities or at most governors. Now, in the current legislation, for each new church even a presidential decree is required, which comes only when a series central bodies, starting from the Ministry of the Interior, have given their clearance".
The bureaucratic rules that complicate the construction of new churches date back, in part, to the Ottoman period. In 1934, the Interior Ministry added the so-called "ten rules" ("we call them 'the ten commandments',") prohibiting, inter alia, to build new churches close to schools, canals, government buildings, railways and residential areas. In many cases, the strict application of those rules did not allow the building of churches in cities and towns inhabited by Christians, especially in the rural areas of Upper Egypt. Sometimes, Christian communities from areas with no places of worship that moved to other villages to pray and participate in the liturgies in the church were attacked by gangs of Salafi fanatics. (GV) (Agenzia Fides 27/09/2014)