CAIRO: Roughly 100 Coptic Christians demonstrated outside Cairo's Abbasyia Cathedral demanding that Pope Shenouda III consider their demands on second marriage rights in Orthodxy. The demonstrators are threatening to convert to another Orthodox group if the divorce crisis is not resolved. Demonstrators clashed with the Cathedral security when they tried to enter the cathedral after they believed the Egyptian Clerical Council resumed work as normal. The demonstrators are unhappy with the current law, which does not allow one to remarry within the church. “We tried to contact the Church clergymen to reach a solution, but no one listened to us. I live with my wife whom I separated with for 6 years,” one of the demonstrators Nader al-Soufi told reporters. “When I didn't live with her, the church justified my situation as adultery since there is no divorce for Catholics. In the end, Coptic Christians are changing their sect to leave their spouses.” Al-Soufi also said that there may well be a collective conversion from Orthodoxy as there are roughly 3,000 Coptic Christians who will be sending judicial notifications to the church on the subject of conversion. An Egyptian court hearing would, ironically, be judged in accordance with Islamic Sharia Law, which is related to the law for personal statutes for non-Muslims. This means that the demonstrators will have the right to get married and divorce without having to change their religion. But not within the Coptic Church, which forbids divorce. Late last month the Pope said he would not cave in to pressure to accept the 1938 regulations that would permit 9 reasons for divorce. Ikram Lamie, a spokesman for the Evangelical Church in Egypt warned the church that they would be forcing many Coptic Christians to convert to Islam in order to achieve what they want. BM
