Bishop Bishoi, secretary of the Holy Synod, denied what some newspapers said about nominations for the succession of Pope Shenouda, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the Saint Mark Episcopate, or about changing bylaws, saying that there is no one better than the Pope, and that it is not the right time to talk about this subject. In a press statement on the sidelines of the ceremony dedicated to St. Dimiana in her monastery in Al-Barari of Belkas, Dakahlia, Bishoi said: "The bylaws produced the best Patriarchs, such as Pope Cyril VI and Pope Shenouda," pointing out that selection by draw allows for God's hand to chose. He added: "The Copts suffered from sectarian tension and frustration at the time of Sadat. This was reinforced by numerous fatwa from Muslim Scholars calling them infidels, which has consolidated the concept of persecution among them and caused psychological repression, prompting them to ally with any Christian that attacks Islam, such as Zakaria Botros, who was dismissed from church and barred from service by Pope Shenouda and the Holy Synod."
He continued: "Had there been real citizenship, no priest would have been imprisoned. It is those who have changed the ID cards of the Christian girls who have converted to Islam that should go to prison. The security services and the government should have brought those girls back to us, just as they want to bring back the Muslims who have converted to Christianity. We do not want to see anyone in prison. I call on President Mubarak to release the priest like he did with journalist Ibrahim Eissa."
He suggested the formation of a committee of wise men to be comprised of Muslims and Christians chosen by Pope Shenouda and Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh to develop a Charter that respects religions in Egypt. "A Charter must be developed to respect religions and the freedom to defend the faith. It had better be a law that punishes the violators that cross its line, be it Christians or Muslims," he said. On the unified personal status law he said: "The unified personal status law has been frozen since the seventies despite our complaints. The current law is incompatible with the Islamic Shariah and the Gospel, as it rules between the spouses of different community according to the Islamic Shariah, whereas Islam stipulates to rule between Christians according to their book." He said the new law excludes the church from the divorce decision and allows divorce only in case of adultery. But sometimes the court cannot prove adultery, as a judge is governed by the evidence he has, while the church can believe there was an act of adultery, as it has its own means of knowing. The law must make the court consult with the Clerical Council that is authorized by the Patriarchate or the leadership of the community. Bishoi objected to visiting the holy places in the occupied Jerusalem, which Pope Benedict XVI did. He said: "His visit to the holy places does not change the fundamentals of the Coptic Orthodox Church," pointing out that the position of the church stems from its solidarity with the Egyptians and the Arabs against normalization with the Jews. He added: "The Egyptian church cannot have dialogue with the Jews, as there is bilateral and multilateral dialogue known as the religious dialogue. We cannot have dialogue with them because all the national churches in the Arab world reject it. We would if the Muslims agreed."
