Egypt’s Christian Orthodox, evangelical
and Catholic denominations plan to hold a meeting to draw up a response
to the draft law on places of worship.
Previously, they had expressed their
rejection of many features of the bill.
The Orthodox Church earlier
rejected nine features of the bill, while the other two denominations
continue to mull the bill over.
Bishop Moussa, the Orthodox Church's bishop for youth, said the
church welcomes meeting with the other churches to discuss a joint
response.
Antonios Azeez, bishop of the Catholic Church in Giza, told Al-Masry
Al-Youm that the church is currently mulling over disadvantages of the
bill.
However, he added that the bill had advantages.
Priest Andrea Zaky, vice president of the Evangelical Church, said
the bill is being studied with the help of legal experts to state
objections over articles that may hinder implementation of the law.
Copts say the draft law proposes strict conditions for building
places of worship. Distance between any two places of worship should be
1000 meters at least.
Meanwhile, the Copts Without Restrictions movement will a stage a
candlelight vigil late Wednesday before the Cathedral in Abbasseya.
The vigil, which comes ahead of Coptic
Pope Shenouda III’s sermon, will commemorate the sectarian violence in
Imbaba 40 days ago, which left 12 people dead.