THE leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt, Pope Shenouda, is ignoring the fact that he could be charged with contempt of court for his vehement refusal to accept a ruling of the Higher Administrative Court, which has ordered the Church to bless remarriages. In Egyptian law, anyone found guilty of contempt of court can be sent to prison for at least a year. If the Church accepted the court ruling, more than 35,000 Copts, who are hoping to remarry, would be able to do so. Moments after the ruling was announced, Shenouda, who is known for his conservative and allegedly rigid understanding of the Bible, mobilised his bishops and lawyers to deaden the euphoria caused by the unprecedented ruling among Coptic divorcees, who are desperately trying to get remarried. The pontiff, who is over 80, has exacerbated this unhappy clash with Egypt's judiciary by vociferously stressing that the Coptic Orthodox Church is not at all concerned about the ruling. Shenouda yesterday reiterated his rejection of the ruling and slammed it as illtimed. ‘It lands the State (authorities) in an embarrassing situation,' he said. "Marriage in Christianity is a religious act. It has nothing to do with administrative orders," read a statement issued after Shenouda's meeting with senior bishops in Cairo. It added that courts could not force Christians to act against their religion. "The ruling would never be put into effect," the statement said. Shenouda told Coptic divorcees that they should not expect any clergymen or other Church officials to approve their ‘religiously abhorred' requests to remarry. “As far as the Coptic Orthodox Church is concerned, the court ruling is not binding,” Shenouda declared, throwing down the gauntlet to the judiciary. In his historic ruling, Chief Justice Mohamed el-Hussein has declared that marriage is a constitutionally enshrined guarded human right, superior to anything else (even religious teachings). “While we [the Higher Administrative Court] acknowledge and respect religious feelingsand rules, we have to comply with the law and its tenets,” the Chief Justice said in his ruling. Naguib Gabriel, the head of the Egyptian Union for Human Rights and a Copt, said a large demonstration by Copts would be held outside the presidential palace tomorrow, calling on President Hosni Mubarak to cancel the ruling. "Just as the president intervened to spar the jailing of journalists and to free Egyptian doctors held in Saudi Arabia, we ask him to cancel this fair which contradicts with our Sharia," Gabriel said. Gabriel, a strong defender of the Coptic Orthodox Church, has harshly criticised the Higher Administrative Court and its judges for “hijacking the authority of the Church”. “Marriage is one of the seven sacraments of the Church, which no outsider or agency should interfere in,” he says, adding that Pope Shenouda should not be ordered to change spiritual teachings. According to the Church's teachings, remarriage is associated with divorce, which happens as a result of adultery. Meanwhile, the court ruling has also been scathingly criticised by Bishop Salib Matta Sawiris, a member of the Synod and based at Mar Girgis Church in Shoubra, northern Cairo. Defending the Church's argument, the Bishop describes remarriage as a profoundlyimportant religious and spiritual issue, the decision and the approval of which should be weighed very carefully and wisely. Observers are inclined to blame Pope Shenouda for the dilemma of Coptic divorcees when he cancelled a decision made by the Coptic Orthodox Church in 1938, which tolerated remarriage in certain situations. The pontiff dumped this decision in 1971, right after his consecration. Copts account for around 10 per cent of Egypt's 80 million population.
