{"id":15732,"date":"2016-08-30T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-08-30T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/will-egypt-take-step-towards-religious-freedom-with-new-law-50796\/"},"modified":"2016-08-30T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-08-30T12:00:00","slug":"will-egypt-take-step-towards-religious-freedom-with-new-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/08\/will-egypt-take-step-towards-religious-freedom-with-new-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Egypt take step towards religious freedom with new law?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

Cairo, Egypt, Aug 30, 2016 \/ 06:00 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Christians in Egypt are hoping that a new law will make it easier for them to build churches, particularly after old laws effectively forced Christians to celebrate Mass in house churches.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is vital that the final law that gets passed should be acceptable to all parties and fully consistent with Article 235 of the constitution,\u201d Dwight Bashir, co-director of policy and research at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, stated to CNA.<\/p>\n

Article 235 of the 2014 Constitution of Egypt mandated that the country\u2019s parliament would \u201cin its first legislative term\u201d pass a new law about building churches \u201cin a manner that guarantees the freedom to practice religious rituals for Christians.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the parliament did not pass the law in its first term, and set a new deadline by the end of September.<\/p>\n

Christians have encountered serious obstacles to building new churches in Egypt, thanks to old laws that require approval from the local community and from the president.<\/p>\n

The group Coptic Solidarity noted that \u201cover the past six decades\u201d only two churches per year have been approved in Egypt, and there are only 2,600 churches in the entire country \u2013 \u201cabout one church for every 5,500 Christian citizens.\u201d Meanwhile, there is \u201cone mosque for every 620 Muslim citizens,\u201d the group said.<\/p>\n

Christians have resorted to having Mass said in their houses or other buildings, \u201ctriggering countless acts of mob violence, often backed by official indifference, complacency, or state intervention charging Copts on the spurious basis of using unauthorized places of worship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thus, the new law to which the amendments are attached was supposed to ease the process of church building; Christians wouldn\u2019t have to get approval from the president, but rather from the local leader, and there was reportedly a four-month timetable for an approval.<\/p>\n

A few days ago, however, Coptic Christian leaders refused to support proposed amendments to the law, calling them \u201cunacceptable.\u201d They have since come to an agreement after meeting with the president, and the cabinet is expected to send a draft of a bill to parliament.<\/p>\n

The Church stated that the law \u201cneeds an open mind when it comes to practical, not literal implementation,\u201d as reported by the outlet Mada Masr.<\/p>\n

Christians in Egypt have suffered violence and attacks on their churches, particularly since the summer of 2013 after the Muslim Brotherhood was unseated from power. The State Department reported that 78 \u201cchurches and other Christian buildings\u201d were attacked, and the military has restored 26 of them.<\/p>\n

However, there have also been attacks on Christians in recent months. A church in southern Egypt was burned down by a mob, and perhaps most infamously a Christian woman in her seventies was beaten, stripped, and dragged through the streets because her son allegedly had an affair with a Muslim woman.<\/p>\n

The perpetrators have operated many times with impunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere also continues to be inadequate accountability for past violent attacks,\u201d USCIRF noted in its 2016 report on religious freedom, adding that \u201cmost perpetrators from large-scale incidents that occurred between 2011 and 2013 \u2013 and even before that \u2013 have not been prosecuted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cairo, Egypt, Aug 30, 2016 \/ 06:00 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Christians in Egypt are hoping that a new law will make it easier for them to build churches, particularly after old laws effectively forced Christians to celebrate Mass in house churches.<\/p>\n

&ldquo…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-middle-east-africa"],"yoast_head":"\nWill Egypt take step towards religious freedom with new law?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cairo, Egypt, Aug 30, 2016 \/ 06:00 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Christians in Egypt are hoping that a new law will make it easier for them to build churches, particularly after old laws effectively forced Christians to celebrate Mass in house churches. &ldquo...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/08\/will-egypt-take-step-towards-religious-freedom-with-new-law\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Will Egypt take step towards religious freedom with new law?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cairo, Egypt, Aug 30, 2016 \/ 06:00 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Christians in Egypt are hoping that a new law will make it easier for them to build churches, particularly after old laws effectively forced Christians to celebrate Mass in house churches. &ldquo...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/08\/will-egypt-take-step-towards-religious-freedom-with-new-law\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-30T12:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/size340\/Dedication_Mass_of_first_Catholic_church_on_Sinai_peninsula_Our_Lady_of_Peace_Church_in_Sharm_El_Sheik_Feb_15_2015_Credit_Aid_to_the_Church_in_Need_3_CNA_2_19_15.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/08\/will-egypt-take-step-towards-religious-freedom-with-new-law\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/08\/will-egypt-take-step-towards-religious-freedom-with-new-law\/\",\"name\":\"Will Egypt take step towards religious freedom with new law?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-30T12:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-08-30T12:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\"},\"description\":\"Cairo, Egypt, Aug 30, 2016 \/ 06:00 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Christians in Egypt are hoping that a new law will make it easier for them to build churches, particularly after old laws effectively forced Christians to celebrate Mass in house churches. &ldquo...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/08\/will-egypt-take-step-towards-religious-freedom-with-new-law\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/08\/will-egypt-take-step-towards-religious-freedom-with-new-law\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/08\/will-egypt-take-step-towards-religious-freedom-with-new-law\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Will Egypt take step towards religious freedom with new law?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\",\"name\":\"Catholic News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\",\"name\":\"CNA Daily News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"CNA Daily News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Will Egypt take step towards religious freedom with new law?","description":"Cairo, Egypt, Aug 30, 2016 \/ 06:00 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Christians in Egypt are hoping that a new law will make it easier for them to build churches, particularly after old laws effectively forced Christians to celebrate Mass in house churches. &ldquo...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/08\/will-egypt-take-step-towards-religious-freedom-with-new-law\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Will Egypt take step towards religious freedom with new law?","og_description":"Cairo, Egypt, Aug 30, 2016 \/ 06:00 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Christians in Egypt are hoping that a new law will make it easier for them to build churches, particularly after old laws effectively forced Christians to celebrate Mass in house churches. &ldquo...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/08\/will-egypt-take-step-towards-religious-freedom-with-new-law\/","og_site_name":"Catholic News","article_published_time":"2016-08-30T12:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/size340\/Dedication_Mass_of_first_Catholic_church_on_Sinai_peninsula_Our_Lady_of_Peace_Church_in_Sharm_El_Sheik_Feb_15_2015_Credit_Aid_to_the_Church_in_Need_3_CNA_2_19_15.jpg"}],"author":"CNA Daily News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CNA Daily News","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/08\/will-egypt-take-step-towards-religious-freedom-with-new-law\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/08\/will-egypt-take-step-towards-religious-freedom-with-new-law\/","name":"Will Egypt take step towards religious freedom with new law?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-08-30T12:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2016-08-30T12:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1"},"description":"Cairo, Egypt, Aug 30, 2016 \/ 06:00 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Christians in Egypt are hoping that a new law will make it easier for them to build churches, particularly after old laws effectively forced Christians to celebrate Mass in house churches. &ldquo...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/08\/will-egypt-take-step-towards-religious-freedom-with-new-law\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/08\/will-egypt-take-step-towards-religious-freedom-with-new-law\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/08\/will-egypt-take-step-towards-religious-freedom-with-new-law\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Will Egypt take step towards religious freedom with new law?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/","name":"Catholic News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1","name":"CNA Daily News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CNA Daily News"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1031"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15732\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}