The Coptic Catholic Church has welcomed a new Egyptian law to facilitate the building of Christian places of worship.
On August 30 Egypt passed a law codifying the rights of Christians to build and renovate churches in the mostly Muslim country. Under the new 10-article law, approved by the Egyptian parliament, regional governors must rule within four months on Christian church-building and renovation applications and provide a "justified decision," subject to appeal, if refusing authorisation.
Critics have warned some provisions are vaguely worded and say clauses requiring the size of a church to be "commensurate with the number of Christian community members," taking account of "expected population growth," could be used by local officials to block permits.
