Egypt’s Copts decry recent spate of church closings

When a long-awaited law on building and restoring churches went into effect in Egypt in September 2016, several Christian members of parliament hailed it as “a step in the right direction.’’ Members of Egypt’s Coptic Christian community — the country’s largest religious minority — celebrated the “landmark legislation” they hoped would ease restrictions on church building, some dating back more than 150 years, to the days when Egypt was part of the Ottoman Empire.

Before the law, a presidential permit was required to build or renovate churches, and requests for church building or renovation licenses were open-ended. The 2016 legislation set a time limit of four months for provincial governors (instead of the president) to respond to requests to legalize churches that had been built without permits.

Nevertheless, the law is not without flaws. Religious rights advocates have criticized the law for limiting the size of the church to the number of Christians in the area where the church is being built — a condition that does not apply to the building of mosques in the predominantly Muslim country.

More than a year after the issuance of the law, there is widespread disappointment and concern among Egypt’s Coptic Christians, who accuse the government of stalling on its promises “to end discrimination” against them. The closure of four churches in two southern Egyptian provinces (three churches in Minya and one in Sohag) by the authorities since mid-October has further fueled the frustration of Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority, which makes up about 10% of the country's population.