The head of Egypt's Coptic Church Pope Shenouda III has urged for a solution to be found for the problems facing Copts in Egypt. In an interview on state-run television, reported by the Middle East News Agency (MENA), Shenouda warned that "failure to solve these problems will prompt some people to behave in a certain way only to attract attention.”
The pope, however, stressed he was not pointing only to Coptic problems, but also to other issues such as unemployment and high prices, which he described as national concerns. "We are all sons of these lands, and God will judge us for our deeds and ask us whether we served the citizens or not."
Copts criticize government restrictions on licenses for church construction and restorations, which usually spark disputes with the Muslim majority. A unified law on the construction of places of worship, which was first proposed in parliament in 2005, has not yet been discussed. The law is considered by analysts to be an effective potential tool for reducing religious tensions.
An annual report by the US State Department on religious freedoms criticized discrimination against Egypt's Copts within recruitment to government jobs. "Equality under the rule of law requires that the law be fair," said the pope in an interview. “Some states amend its laws if it finds that one of them is abusive to some people."
The pope urged legislators to enact laws that accommodate all sectors of society without discrimination. Shenouda indicated that national unity can be best achieved through unity in action, thought, and sentiment. He added that Muslim-Coptic unity must be reflected on the level of political parties.
