by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – In an apparent effort to improve its relations with Egypt’s Christian community, the Islamic Egyptian government last month approved the legalization of 293 previously unlicensed churches and service buildings, All Arab News (AAN) reports.
Following recommendations from the Main Committee under Article 8 of Law No. 80 from 2016, the legalization approval was given during a Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouly on October 21.
Egypt will now have 3,453 churches and worship centers with legal status,
“Since the passing of that law, Egypt has moved to legalize churches built without prior approval, as well as authorizing the construction of new churches,” AAN said in its report. “The law was meant to address significant administrative and security hurdles in approving the construction of new churches following complaints from the Coptic Christian community.”
In a recent report, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom confirmed: “Religious freedom conditions in Egypt are trending tentatively in a positive direction.”
“The country has seen a decrease in radical Islamist violence and anti-Christian mob attacks, some progress in implementing the registration process for unlicensed churches and related buildings, and the launch of a government program to address religious intolerance in rural areas,” the USCIRF noted.
Nevertheless, the USCIRF cautioned: “Systematic and ongoing religious inequalities remain affixed in the Egyptian state and society, and various forms of religious bigotry and discrimination continue to plague the country’s Coptic Christians and other religious minorities.”
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
The U.S.-backed Board of Peace is preparing to launch a pilot program in the coming weeks to manage humanitarian shelters in parts of the Gaza Strip not controlled by Hamas, beginning in Tel Sultan near Rafah, according to an exclusive report by Israel Hayom.
A growing number of lawmakers on Capitol Hill are warning the Trump administration against reopening the door for Turkey to acquire advanced F-35 stealth fighter jets, arguing that such a move would reward an unreliable NATO ally while potentially weakening Israel’s security and exposing sensitive American military technology.
Pakistan’s influential television channel Geo News has apologized after the country’s media regulator suspended its broadcast over content it says could offend religious feelings in the Islamic nation.
Police searched Tuesday for a suspect who allegedly targeted a Ukrainian-born business tycoon and his family with a parcel bomb in the wealthy Mediterranean principality of Monaco, in an attack described by Prince Albert II as “an odious act.”
Christian advocates warned Tuesday that British government plans to ban so-called “conversion therapy” could criminalize parents, pastors, and other believers for expressing Biblical teaching on sexuality and gender.
An Indonesian court sentenced former education minister Nadiem Makarim, the co-founder of Indonesia’s largest start-up, Gojek, to 10 years in prison Tuesday in a controversial corruption case that has raised concerns at home and abroad over the country’s legal system.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that states may bar transgender women and girls from competing on female school sports teams, handing a major victory to advocates who have argued that girls’ and women’s athletics must be protected on the basis of biological sex.