ICC Note:  Over 3000 churches are currently seeking legalization in Egypt. Christians are frustrated by the long bureaucratic process particularly when compared to the speed with which the government closes churches. Most of the country’s legal churches are located outside of Minya, the province with the largest Christian demographic. Meanwhile, Muslim extremists often react with mob violence when they see a church open to prayer and other activities. In these cases, the church is often immediately closed for long periods of time while those who instigated the violence receive minimal—if any—penalties.

03/17/2018 Egypt (The Arab Weekly) – Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail’s decision to legalise 53 churches did little to impress Egypt’s Christian minority.

One of the reasons is that they are just a fraction of the unlicensed churches in Egypt and do not have state security presence because they are not officially recognised. At a time when Islamist militants have been attacking Egypt’s Christian minority, this is a major source of concern.

“The Christians are afraid to pray at hundreds of churches, even though they do not have any alternatives, because they know that the prayers will incite the radicals and cause bloodshed,” said Hani Sabri Labib, a Christian lawyer campaigning for church licensing. “There is total frustration among Christians because of the failure of the government to legalise the churches.”

Church construction and licensing have been major issues for Egypt’s Christian community in recent decades.

Although the population of the Christian minority is estimated at 9 million, almost 10% of Egypt’s population, there are only 6,000 churches in the country. Many Christians must travel long distances to reach a church.

About 150 villages in southern Egypt do not have access to a church at all and most of Egypt’s churches are concentrated in Cairo, Giza province and Alexandria.

Many churches in Egypt need immediate restoration but Christians say they are unable to begin restoration work because of complicated bureaucratic processes. Church construction is similarly curtailed, meaning that most churches built in recent years have technically been constructed illegally and require licensing.

In August 2016, the Egyptian parliament approved a church construction and restoration law. The law made it necessary for churches built without licensing to be licensed. The prime minister formed a committee to consider requests for church licensing.

The Coptic Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church requested licensing for 3,615 churches built without prior licensing. Last month, the committee approved the licensing of just 53 churches, even though other churches on the list met licensing requirements.

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For interviews with Claire Evans, ICC’s Regional Manager, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: press@persecution.org.