Christian clergy have welcomed a decision by Egypt's Ministry of Housing to allow Christians to practice religious rites at unlicensed churches, pending their formal recognition, Ahram Online reported Tuesday (January 9th).
Prime Minister Sherif Ismail formed a committee last January to review requests to formally recognise unlicensed churches in accordance with Law No. 80/2016, which eases restrictions on the building of churches.
The decision followed a request from Archpriest Michael Antoun, the committee’s Coptic Orthodox representative, the ministry said in a statement.
Antoun said requests have been presented to formally recognise 2,600 churches and affiliated buildings in all Egyptian governorates.
Before the church building law was passed in 2016, Christians – who make up an estimated 10% of Egypt’s population – had long struggled to obtain permits to build churches, with the process at times taking years.
