CAIRO: Around 100 Coptic Christians threatened to convert to another Orthodox sect if the divorce crisis is not solved. They demonstrated outside Abbasyia Cathedral and called on the Egyptian Pope Shenouda III to consider their demands regarding the church's agreement about second marriage in Orthodoxy. It is the last chance for the church to solve the demonstrators' problem before they head out to the Egyptian Ministry of Interior to convert to another Christian sect. The demonstrators tried to break into the Cathedral after they thought the Egyptian Clerical Council returned to resume its work but they were prevented by security. Thus there were clashes outside the Cathedral among the demonstrators and security. "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. 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," said one of demonstrators, Nader al-Soufi. He added there will be a collective convert from Orthodoxy since 3000 Coptic Christians will send judicial notifications to the Church about converting. They will have their right to get married and divorced without changing the religion since the court will judge in accordance with the Islamic Sharia Law, which is related to the law of personal statues for non-Muslims.
