Praying for the Persecuted Church in Lent - Egypt

Last year, 2009, was marked by a surge in anti-Christian violence in Egypt. Muslim mobs targeted Christians in a variety of locations, especially in Minya province, destroying homes, shops, cars and crops, setting churches on fire and injuring local Christians. Many Christian women and girls were kidnapped by Muslims, forced to convert to Islam and married off to Muslim men. Some Christians were killed.

Many Christians in Egypt are very poor because of the discrimination they suffer, and have to live and work in filthy garbage villages

The Egyptian constitution guarantees freedom of religion, but Christians are discriminated against in education and employment. As a result, many are extremely poor. Thousands of Christians live in “garbage villages” and earn a living sorting the household rubbish. In April 2009 many of them lost a major part of their livelihood when the Egyptian government culled their pigs (claiming erroneously that it was a necessary precaution against swine flu).

Presidential permission is needed to build churches, and obtaining the permit is a very slow and often futile process. Permission from local governors is needed for repairs to church buildings. There is much hostility from the Muslim community towards the idea of Christians having new places of worship and many of the anti- Christian attacks last year centred on this.

While there is no law against leaving Islam, converts to Christianity usually face harassment and severe pressure, sometimes even threats to their lives, either from the community or from the authorities. Identity cards are vital in Egyptian society, and converts from Islam to Christianity face serious problems because they are unable to change the religion listed on their ID cards to show their new faith. This makes it very difficult for them to live as Christians, and means that their children are also automatically considered Muslims.