A Catholic Coptic bishop has said he “very strongly” encourages
Christians to accept Egypt's draft constitution for Egypt, voted on this
week, citing the autonomy it grants to Christians, Muslims and Jews.
“If the constitution is really taken seriously then the situation of
Christians in Egypt will improve considerably,” Bishop Kyrillos William
Samaan of the Coptic Eparchy of Assiut told Aid to the Church in Need
Jan. 14. He said the new document is “without doubt an improvement on
what applied under the Muslim Brotherhood.”
The constitution was the subject of a referendum which took place Jan. 14-15.
The Egyptian constitution had been under revision since December 2013.
Representatives of Egypt’s churches, including Coptic Catholic Bishop
Antonios Mina of Guizeh, were involved in the review process before the
draft was submitted to interim president Adi Mansour for approval.
Bishop William Samaan said the Christian community is very happy with
the draft constitution, which has strong support from the Christian
media.
The bishop said the proposed constitution “guarantees Christians and
Jews autonomy in matters regarding civil status and internal affairs.”
It grants Muslims, Christians and Jews “the same right to build places
of worship.”
“I hope we Christians will then be free at last to build and renovate churches,” Bishop William Samaan said.
The repair and construction of churches has been strictly regulated in
Egypt. This has severely hindered the Christian population, which traces
its roots back to the early years of Christian evangelization.
The Coptic Catholic Church, which is in communion with the Bishop of
Rome, has about 250,000 adherents, and is headed by the Cairo-based
Patriarch of Alexandria.
The two-day referendum on the new constitution took place Tuesday and
Wednesday, with 37 percent of registered voters participating, the
state-run Al Ahram newspaper has said.
The newspaper projects a 90 percent “yes” vote for the draft
constitution, though members of the Muslim Brotherhood are boycotting
the election.
About 400 people have been arrested for disrupting the vote and there
have been some clashes between protesters and police, the BBC reports.
The Egyptian military removed the Muslim Brotherhood-backed resident
Mohammed Morsi from power in July 2013. Egypt has been politically
unstable since the “Arab Spring” protests of 2011 deposed then-president
Hosni Mubarak.
A December 2012 constitutional referendum approved the previous
constitution by a vote of 64 percent, with turnout of 33 percent. That
election was boycotted by secular elements in Egyptian society.