Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court yesterday suspended the implementation of a controversial judicial ruling by the Higher Administrative Court to allow divorced Copts to remarry, which was rejected by the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt. "According to Article 32 of the Supreme Constitutional Court Law, the ruling to commit Pope Shenouda to allow divorced Copts to remarry has been temporarily suspended until the case [filed by the Coptic Orthodox Church against this ruling] is heard," a legal source said yesterday. He added that Judge Farouq Sultan, the head of the court, has ordered the suspension of the ruling as it contradicts another ruling, obtained by Pope Shenouda III, the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church. Shenouda had strongly condemned a verdict issued in May, allowing divorced Copt Magdi William Youssef to remarry, saying the ruling contradicted the teachings in the Holy Bible. He said priests who perform such marriages, along with those requesting to remarry, will not be allowed to stay in the Church, as they are considered "deviants". Copts can obtain a civil divorce from the State, but only marriages within a church are officially recognised, essentially preventing divorced Copts from a second marriage. Church supporters described the court ruling as an attack on their religion by the State, though some Copts have long been calling for the right to divorce and remarry. The ruling led the Justice Ministry to announce that it was drafting a new law to regulate marriage and divorce for the country's religious minorities, following protests from Egyptian Christians. "The purpose of the [new] law is to ensure everyone's right to worship God according to their own set of rules," Justice Minister Mahmoud Marei said last month. Islam is the dominant religion of Egypt. Copts make up as much as 10 per cent of the population and often complain of discrimination.
