Orthodox Christians open first cathedral, while journalists sit in at the Press Syndicate CAIRO: Egypt has officially inaugurated the first cathedral church for Egyptian Orthodox Christians under the authority of Bishop Maximos and in the presence of high-profile National Democratic Party (NDP) members, reported Al-Masry Al-Youm on its front page, Monday. The Orthodox Cathedral Church is a first in Egypt and the Middle East, and according to Bishop Maximos, has long been called for by Egyptian Orthodox Christians living in the United States, where Bishop Maximos originally established an Egyptian Orthodox church. When he first arrived in Egypt and called for the establishment of the church, the bishop was accused of creating factions among Egyptian Christians and setting up a front against the mother church, which is Coptic. Maximos, according to the daily Al-Masry Al-Youm, was even accused of collaborating with the United States State Department to create a splinter group of Christians in Egypt to destabilize the domineering Coptic authority, an allegation that the Bishop strongly denied. Although the Coptic Church is headed by Pope Shenouda, patriarch of Alexandria, who is indeed Orthodox, the Church (based on the teachings of Saint Mark) has remained essentially Egyptian (the word Coptic meaning Egyptian). Strict interpretation of the holy text are retained that conserve early Christian rituals and traditions. Also in Al-Masry Al-Youm and in Sawt-Al-Umma are the reactions of journalists to the new draft of the press law proposed by the government and reportedly fulfilling the president's promise to protect journalists from prosecution and imprisonment in press crime cases. On Sunday, newspapers reported that the law had been transferred to parliament; now Al-Masry Al-Youm reports that parliament has initially endorsed the much debated and criticized law; despite the Press Syndicate's fierce protests and statements against it. Government officials had called the syndicate's attitude "unreasonable and stiff . especially since syndicate leaders were included during the discussions of the law while the syndicate called the officials who passed the law "unjust towards the press and denied that they had ever seen the final draft of the law or were allowed to review it. In its headline, Sawt-Al-Umma said that all reporters agree that "the new law protects the corrupt and jails journalists. Sawt-Al-Umma's managing director is already facing libel charges in front of the Cairo Criminal Court, and possibly jail, for publishing what two outspoken judges had termed "the black list of judges supposedly involved in vote rigging during last year's presidential elections. Meanwhile, and in reaction to the draft law, the syndicate held a sit-in on its headquarters Monday; signs criticizing the government and the passing of the law were displayed on the walls of the syndicate. The sit-in is part of a series of protests against the law, with the reporters promising to stay in the syndicate until their demands are met. Also in protest, the syndicate called for an emergency meeting of its General Assembly on Tuesday in order to organize their stance against the law and publish an official statement rejecting it. This Sunday Galal Aref, syndicate head, sent a letter to President Hosni Mubarak asking him to interfere, saying the new draft law does not protect journalists as the president had promised; on the contrary "it allows jailing of reporters and even presses much heavier fines on them. Ever since the law was proposed, high-profile journalists and editors have vehemently condemned the law, especially since a meeting with the head of the lower house crushed their hopes and proved, as reported by Al-Masry Al-Youm, that officials have no intentions of meeting the syndicate's demands.
