Egypt’s churches have called for more accurate representation of the Coptic population in the census.
“Statistics in Egypt are inaccurate,” said Evangelical Church spokesperson Ikram Lamei. “Officials often use figures to serve political or security purposes.”
The last census, conducted in the 1980s, counted 2.8 million Copts.
“The church objected to it at the time, and said Copts constitute 8 to 10 percent of the population,” Lamei noted.
Father Salib Matta of the Mar Girgis Church in Shubra called on the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) to be more precise. “They like to reduce the size of the Coptic population, though everyone knows the true percentage,” he said. Roman Catholic Bishop Adel Zaki agreed with Matta’s statement.
A CAPMAS report on Wednesday said the country’s population would reach 92 million by March, without specifying the ratio of Coptic Christians to Muslims.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
