CAIRO - A unified bill for building places of worship remained an unfulfilled wish under the Mubarak regime. The bill, which was perceived by both Christians and enlightened Muslims as instrumental in lessening sectarian tension was not been seriously considered until after the January 25 revolution and the ensuing deadly sectarian clashes. A nine-article draft bill has of late been endorsed in a bid to regulate the process of building houses of worship. However, as much as it took into consideration aspects that used to infuriate Copts, the draft bill still carried articles, which the Coptic Orthodox Church has deemed deficient. The bill has been subject to societal debate with a view to reaching a final form, before it is referred to the forthcoming Egyptian parliament for endorsement. The debate is expected to continue until the bill proves to be satisfactory to both sides. The draft bill has clearly set the area of places of worship, the number allowed in relation to the population density and locations where their building will not be allowed. Under the new bill procedural steps for getting a building licence are void of security approval, which had previously obstructed the setting up of many churches and mosques. In the opinion of Amir Ramzi, a Coptic judge, authorising governors to grant building, demolition or renovation licences is a mistake, which has been passed down from the old system to the new bill. “In this way politics, security and religion would intersect”, he told Al-Ahram semi-official newspaper . Ramzi favours dealing with such licences in a simpler way. He suggested that licences for setting up mosques or churches should go through the same municipality channels as other establishments and be referred to the local governor only in case of error or intransigence. Meanwhile, Galal el-Bendari, a legal expert, agrees that governors should not be a party in granting licences, since individual decisions in such sensitive cases could be subject to various pressure. He believes that members of local councils are more competent and duly informed about the needs of their districts and so should deal with building licences of worship places in their capacity as public utilities. Coptic clergymen, on their part, have objected to an article, which specifies l,000 square metres as a minimum area for a place of worship. “This condition is impossible especially in the countryside and overpopulated districts,” said Judge Ramzi who personally finds that 200 square metres would be sufficient enough as a minimum area. He also had reservations on the penalty of two to five year imprisonment and a fine of LEl00,000 that could be raised to LE300,000 imposed on violators accused of building, pulling down or restoring houses of worship without licence. The penalty, argues Judge Ramzi, is harsh and would be too difficult to effect, especially given that applicants would be mostly men of religion. According to Taha Abu Kresha, former vice-president of Al-Azhar University the best aspect of the suggested bill is that it links the number of places of worship and neighbourhoods' population density. However, he approves the stipulated penalties, which he described as deterrent in securing strict abidance by the regulating law. Communal debate of the draft bill has not ended and representatives of Coptic churches in Egypt have already forwarded their version of amendments to the Cabinet. Egyptians are actually looking forward to the final drafting of the law, which would hopefully put an end to a headache that has long sabotaged the former Muslim-Coptic co-existence.
