The Roman Orthodox Church, which represents one of the four officially-recognized sects of Christians in Egypt, said it rejects the new unified Personal Status Law for non-Muslims, which the Ministry of Justice is currently preparing in cooperation with the Coptic Orthodox, Evangelical and Catholic Churches.
A source from the Roman Orthodox Church said it was excluded from the committee responsible for the preparation of the unified law because the Coptic Church and Pope Shenouda wanted to take revenge on the Roman Orthodox Church following the crisis of the Middle East Council of Churches and the withdrawal of the Coptic Church from the council.
At a meeting of the Middle East Council of Churches in May in Jordan, a disagreement erupted between representatives of the two churches. The dispute led the Coptic Church to pullout of the council, saying it would only return upon a formal apology from the Greek Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem.
The same source said the Roman Orthodox Church will hold an international press conference to announce its rejection of the bill.
Nicolas Antonios, the Roman Orthodox bishop, said the Roman Orthodox Church has sent letters to the Minister of Justice, the head of the committee preparing the law, the Speakers of the People’s Assembly and the Shura Council and the Minister of Interior saying that it will not conform to the new law since it has not participated in its formulation. He added that the Roman Orthodox Church has not received a reply so far.
Antonios added that according to the Roman Orthodox Church, there are eight reasons that warrant a divorce, and therefore adultery cannot be the only grounds for a divorce as the Copitc Church believes.
Antonios rejected to comment on whether Pope Shenouda, the Coptic patriarch, is behind their exclusion from the committee preparing the law. He added however that he is not clear on who is running the committee entrusted with the preparation of the lew law.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
