ICC Note: Christians in Egypt eagerly await a vote on legislation that would ease the restrictions on church construction in the country. The vote could happen as early as next month and would mean a great leap forward in progress for the north african nation. Current laws make church construction nearly impossible in Egypt forcing many to worship in house churches which is illegal and prone to islamic attacks. This all comes in the wake of a recent and steady upsurge in sectarian violence.

08/19/2016 Egypt (Christian Daily): Christians in Egypt are waiting for a vote on a law that would ease the restrictions on construction of new churches, and that vote could happen as early as next month.

Egypt’s current law makes it very difficult for Christians to build their own places of worship since such buildings require approval from local Muslims. In addition, the proposed church should be located at least 340 feet away from the nearest mosque, and they could not be built near government establishments, schools, village canals, railways, and even between residential areas, Christianity Today details.

Because of the restrictions, only a few churches have been built in Egypt. Coptic Solidarity says an average of two churches every year has been approved for construction in the last 60 years, and there are less than 2,600 churches all in all. While there is one mosque for every 620 Egyptian Muslims, there is about one church for every 5,500 Christians in the country.

The scarcity of churches in Egypt has led many Christians to conduct their services in house basements, the World Watch Monitor says. However, these gatherings are illegal, thus they are easy targets for Islamist extremists.

Egypt’s 2014 constitution includes a requirement that the Parliament pass a law that would ease the restriction on church constructions. The deadline for this falls within the first term, but the Parliament moved that to the end of September since it was unable to complete the task.

There have been rumors about a draft that would require Christians to seek the approval of a governor instead of the president in order to build a church. Since there is still no official confirmation of the deadline for the vote for the legislation, Egyptian Christians continue to wait.

…

[Full Story]