Greek Church rejects personal status Bill

Patriarch Theodore

By:
Amr Bayoumi

The Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria has rejected a new personal status draft law for non-Muslims.

Greek Orthodox Church Patriarch Theodoros II reportedly sent a message to Justice Minister Mamdouh Marei in which he pointed out that the church had not been represented in the committee currently debating the draft law. “And so we shall not abide by it,” Theodoros wrote.

He went on to write that the Egyptian government officially recognized his church–along with the Coptic, Catholic and Anglican churches–and should therefore include its representatives in official committees.

“Issues of marriage and divorce were covered by the church’s 1937 Holy Synod, which is recognized by all state institutions,” the patriarch added in his letter to the minister.

In a related development, a Coptic Church source said that Coptic Pope Shenouda III had expressed hope that the bill would not be submitted to parliament if it faced objections from other Christian denominations.

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