Sharia is making life difficult for Christians in the Egyptian secular state. “In Egypt, Religious Freedom or Shariah? Catholics Struggle With Conflicts in Law,” from Zenit (thanks to DFS):
CAIRO, Egypt, SEPT. 27, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The patriarch of the Coptic Catholic Church says that the contradiction in the legal system embodied in the Egyptian Constitution makes life difficult for the faithful.
Patriarch Antonios Naguib explained the difficulties of the Egyptian legal situation to the Germany-based group Aid to the Church in Need.
The patriarch said that on the one hand, the constitution guarantees freedom of religion and conscience while, on the other, it enforces Islam as the state religion and makes Shariah, Islamic law, the “fundamental source of the legal system.”
A grave problem for the Church in Egypt, resulting from the unclear legal situation, is difficulty in obtaining permission to build churches, he said.
Patriarch Naguib expressed the hope that things might soon change, as there are some voices calling for the equality of all citizens.