Egypt govt approves bill for building churches

By Rabia al-Sokkari

CAIRO, Egypt

The Egyptian government on Thursday approved a bill for the construction and renovation of churches in the Arab country.

In a statement, the government said the bill was endorsed after “reaching consensus with representatives of various Egyptian churches”.

It, however, gave no further details about the bill.

The announcement came shortly after the Egyptian Orthodox Church, which represents the largest Christian denominations in Egypt, said it has reached a compromise with the government on the bill.

The draft still needs approval from the Egyptian parliament to become law.

According to Egyptian constitution, the parliament has to issue a law regulating the construction and renovation of churches with a view to ensuring free religious freedom to Egypt’s Christian minority.

The bill sets a 4-month timeframe for the authorities to approve an application for building a church.

In the past, the building of churches was subject to approval from security agencies and without giving a time limit for construction.

The construction of churches is a thorny issue in Egypt, which sometimes leads to clashes between Muslims and Christians.