Egyptian Christians rebuild a church after seven years
Last Sunday one thousand six hundred Copt Christians participated in the first religious gathering to be held in their new church.
A Copt Christian community, having finished the reconstruction project of an old church that was closed by the authorities seven years previously, held their first meeting in the newly opened building last Sunday. Their previous church building was closed for safety reasons. The religious meeting took place in the town of Kom El-Loufy, in the province of Minia, some 250 km from Cairo where one thousand six hundred Copt Christians gathered for the event. During the remodelling, the faithful had been gathering in the church of the neighbouring town of Ezbet Rafia.
Since the closure of the church in 2011, the Copt Christians have suffered strong opposition from the local Muslims. Two years ago, two Muslim men opened fire on the house of four Copts when they heard that one of their houses would become a church. This situation continued up until last year when the Christians finally got permission to build a new church.
Copts in other towns face the same problems. In past years, because of Muslim opposition, the construction of new Christian churches has been virtually impossible. Last March, there were 3,500 planning applications for new churches still waiting for government approval.
Source: Portas Abertas
Translator: Ildikó Ungvári