Egypt's Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab formed a committee to draft a new personal status law for Egypt's Copts to resolve the problem of the second marriage from which hundreds of Coptic Christians in Egypt suffer. The Coptic Orthodox Church refuses to provide the divorced Coptic citizens with the right of the second marriage. The church‘s position prompted many Copts to demonstrate in the cathedral during the weekly sermon of Pope Tawadros II weeks ago. Potential clash Many experts believe that Mahlab's proposal could open the door for a clash between the church and the government for the first time since the ascent of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to power, a year ago. The church does not interpret holy matrimony as suited, as this sacrament is provided for in the Bible and there is no ground for divorce except for adultery, said the church's lawyer Ramsis al-Nagar. He added that the church does not accept to discuss the second marriage idea in a social dialogue, saying that the bible teachings are not negotiable. He stressed, "The church will not give up its right to recognize religious marriages and that even if a court ruling was issued to that effect, it would be non-binding for the church. Article "3" dilemma On the other hand, Coptic citizen Ashraf Anis said that the government should perform its role to deal with the problem of hundreds of Egyptians, stressing that the church refuses to recognize the judicial verdicts of divorce that the courts provided to the Coptic citizens. Anis filed a case to announce his withdrawal from the Coptic Church to pave the way for implementing the rules of Islamic Sharia regarding our personal status. "The church works to implement its religious convictions by the force of law depending on Article 3 of Egypt's constitution," said Anis. Article 3 of Egypt's constitution stipulates "The principles of Christian and Jewish Sharia are the main source of legislations related to their respective personal status, religious affairs and selection of spiritual leaders." Civil marriage Many observers praised Mahlab's decision as an important step to resolve the problem through passing a law allowing the civil marriage for the Copts. Coptic Bishop Marcos said in a statement to al-Bawaba News that the church will not accept the civil marriage, saying that the Christian marriage should be subjected to the church's authority. However, Coptic intellectual Kamal Zakher stressed on the need for implementing the civil marriage as it is implemented in the different countries of the world, adding that the church has nothing to do with it. He rebuked the calls for protesting against the church, saying those demonstrators have knocked on the wrong door. He added, "The major problem of those people is not with the church, but with the government."
