Minya governor refutes Churches closure allegations

CAIRO- 31 October 2017: Minya governor Essam Al Bidawi issued an official statement on Sunday in response to allegations of closure of four churches in Minya governorate on October 26.

The governor’s statement included 6 points that discussed the allegations recently told by Minya diocese, claiming that four churches have been closed down in Minya governorate, calling on the government to reopen those churches.

The 6 points mentioned in the Statement...

Every Egyptian has the right to perform his/her religious rituals

Minya governorate’s apparatuses and officials deeply believe in every Egyptian citizen’s right to perform his/her religious rituals.

Worship houses are among our priorities

The governor prioritized Christian worshippers and their houses since coming into office on September 2016, as an effort to eliminate what some call a religious strife to pave the way for development and prosperity in the Minya. Our policies to solve obstacles refute any allegations of State’s bias against a religion in favor of another.


Egyptian Church is aligned with the State

Given his prestigious reputation among Christians, Minya Bishop Anba Makarios is obliged to be positive of the information he receives, especially those concerned of performing religious rituals inside unlicensed and unregistered worship houses, to avoid distributing rumors exploited by news agencies in order to fabricate stories of State’s feud with the Church unlike the truth.

The governorate is keen on preserving Christians’ safety

The perpetrators who recently vandalized three houses belong to Christian citizens in Minya villages were briefly arrested, though those places of residence witnessed religious rituals without being labeled as official worship houses compliant with State’s rules. The state security arrested 26 perpetrators unlike what was mentioned in Minya diocese’s statement that the vandals were not apprehended.

Governor’s office met 32 of Minya diocese demands

The governorate has met 32 demands made by Minya diocese during the previous year, a step that refute any rumor of discrimination against Christians, also, numbers of churches has increased by 21 between 2016 and 2017.

Minya hosts the biggest number of churches among other governorates

The number of churches inside Minya exceeds any number in all of the Egyptian governorates, beside there are plans to increase that number to contain the growing population the Christians in the all of Minya’s villages, noting that this statement is issued to refute all the growing rumors of shutting down churches in Minya during the previous two weeks.

The state will not allow the existence of either Muslim or Christian hardliners seek to impose their will on its apparatuses, this could be obviously noticed on the latest decisions taken by the governorate to renovate Abu Affana ancient monastery, construction of a rest area at the Church of the Virgin Mary at Deir Al-Tayr Monastery in Samalut and studying the holy family’s route in very same town.