By Girgis Waheeb – Watani –
A conciliation session, a traditional out-of-court settlement, had been held last evening between the Copts and Muslims of the village of Meinin in al-Fashn, Beni Sweif, some 100km south of Cairo, to contain the fallout of an attack against the village church on 14 April. The incident resulted in the arrest of nine Copts and 11 Muslims, and closure of the church.
The conciliation session was held in a local school building and was attended by the village elders, local politicians and security officials, as well as members of the Muslim and Coptic clergy: all in all 10 representatives from each side. The settlement reached said the church would remain closed until officially legalised by the Cabinet committee that looks into the cases of unlicensed churches. A hall annexed to the closed church would be used for social occasions for Copts, such as weddings or funerals.
The Meinin village church of the Holy Virgin and Pope Kyrillos has been used for worship for some 10 years now, and is among the unlicensed churches which, according to the 2016 Law for Building Churches, have filed applications for legalisation of status. For long decades and till the 2016 law was passed, Copts had found it next to impossible to obtain licence to build a church. Owing to the ever-increasing needs of the growing congregation, they resorted to worshipping in buildings not licensed for worship. The new law made provision for licensing existing unlicensed churches, provided their buildings are structurally sound, as proved by a committee from the building authority. The law also stipulated that no church which has submitted its papers to the Cabinet’s relevant committee should be closed.
No specific reason was given for the Meinin attack, but many of the Coptic villagers say that the building authority committee had recently visited the church in preparation for legalising its status, and the attack was waged in retaliation.
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Conciliation, suspended sentences for Copts and Muslims in Beni Sweif village
Since when have the Sacraments been a ‘social’ occasion?
The sacrament of the union of one man to one woman, marriage, is just that, a sacrament احد الاسرار السبع which are inviolate. These are the corner of our faith. It is totally unacceptable to close a church and hold one of the sacraments in an annexed hall. The Government is negligent and would be equally culpable in colluding with those Islamists who deny us the basic human rights of worshiping our Maker. Saba E. Demian, M.D.