Egypt court upholds ruling on Christian Remarriage
30/11/2010
CAIRO Nov 30 (Reuters) – An Egyptian court on Tuesday threw out a challenge to its ruling that Orthodox Copts can remarry, challenging the church’s stance on an issue that has added to tensions between Egypt’s Muslims and the Christian minority.
Divorce and remarriage is more acceptable among Egypt’s Muslims than most members of the Orthodox Coptic church, which only allows it in special cases such as adultery.
Christians, mostly Orthodox Copts, make up about 10 percent of Egypt’s 79 million population.
Sectarian clashes have become more common in recent years, often sparked by cases of inter-faith relationships, land disputes and church construction licences.
Violent clashes erupted last week between police and hundreds of Christians protesting after the authorities halted building of a church in Cairo.
The incident took a sectarian turn as dozens of Muslims joined the violence. Two Christians were killed and dozens of people were injured.
The dispute over remarriage dates back to May when a Cairo supreme administrative court upheld a first ruling to allow two Copts to remarry.
That ruling was then suspended by the Supreme Constitutional Court in July. [ID:nLDE6661T5]
“The State Council’s Administrative Court ruled … to continue executing the verdict it issued permitting the Coptic Orthodox sect to remarry, refusing a legal challenge filed by two lawyers to halt the ruling,” state news agency MENA said.
The May ruling prompted unusually strong criticism by the head of Egypt’s Orthodox Copts, Pope Shenouda, who signed a document along with 90 other church officials condemning the decision. [ID:nLDE6570CW]
The government promised a new marriage law for non-Muslims to be enacted in July, but it has not yet been drafted.
Until this year, Egyptian law stated that Islamic rules on marriage and divorce prevail except in cases where both husband and wife belong to the same non-Muslim sect.
That means a Catholic husband and his Coptic Orthodox wife are subject to Islamic law.
(Reporting by Yasmine Saleh)
