Serving the communities of Charvil, Sonning and Sonning Eye since 1869
The Parish Magazine - January 2022 11
The Persecuted Church: Focus on Egypt by Colin Bailey
Good news from Egypt in 2021
2015: Security guards and police guard a Christian church in Cairo Maximn, dreamstime.com
It is illegal for Christians to worship in an unlicensed church building in Egypt,
but a programme has started of registering churches and church buildings.
Applications started once Ottoman-era restrictions on church buildings were
repealed in 2016. At the beginning of 2021 there were 1,930 churches waiting to be
granted licences under the Law for Building and Restoring Churches. Prime Minister
Madbouli urged the speeding up of licensing. By April, Egyptian authorities had
reached the halfway mark in licensing churches. This brought the total granted
official recognition to 1,882.
On one day in November, 63 churches and affiliated buildings were licensed by
the Egyptian Cabinet committee. It was the 21st batch of registrations and brought
the number of licensed churches to 2,021 — 3,730 had applied.
In March, the teaching of Christianity and Judaism was to be introduced
into schools and in April, it was reported that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had
apologised on behalf of the nation when an appeal court acquitted three Muslim
men charged of stripping naked an elderly Christian woman and dragging her
through the streets during mob violence.
'AN OASIS OF STABILITY'
In August, Christians were saying that their situation is better than anyone
can remember. President al-Sisi has been quick to support Christians verbally and
practically whenever anti-Christian incidents occur. Barnabas Fund reported that
although there have been a few kidnappings of Christians, the government has
exerted itself to get the hostages released. The extremist Muslim Brotherhood has
become less influential since Al-Azhar University has controlled most of the mosques.
In October, it was announced that Egypt was to lift its nationwide state of
emergency that had been imposed four years previously, following bomb attacks
against churches. Suicide bombers had targeted two major churches on Palm
Sunday 2017, killing at least 65 people and injuring 126. Responsibility for the blasts
had been claimed by ISIS. At the time of the bombings, Egypt was experiencing
a growing wave of violence linked to IS militants, much of it targeted against
Christians, particularly in the north east Sinai region.
The decision to lift the ban was announced by President al-Sisi via Facebook on
25 October: Egypt has become, thanks to its great people and its loyal men, an oasis of
security and stability in the region.
Please pray for Egypt, its president, prime minister and its people, and that the
whole Muslim community of Egypt will follow their president’s lead in treating the
Christian minority as respected equals.
email: youthminister@sonningparish.org.uk
better support our young people — Westy!
References and further reading
https://barnabasfund.org/news/egypt-lifts-four-year-state-of-emergency-imposed-after-church-bombings/
https://www.facebook.com/BarnabasFund/posts/10159385328465726
https://www.facebook.com/BarnabasFund/photos/10151828779630726/10159252291890726
https://fal.cn/3eW8K
https://fal.cn/3e8YH
https://www.facebook.com/BarnabasFund/photos/a.10151828779630726/10158984279065726
https://www.facebook.com/BarnabasFund/photos/a.10151828779630726/10158944839790726
https://www.facebook.com/BarnabasFund/posts/10158905315065726
https://www.facebook.com/BarnabasFund/photos/a.10151828779630726/10158847771755726
https://www.facebook.com/BarnabasFund/posts/10158710692435726
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