Coptic associations called for the state’s intervention to prevent the church from civil legislation for Christians, have it confined to the religious aspects and that the government should enact civil laws on personal status for Copts away from any interference by the church.

The conference held by the 38 Copts League at the Center for Intercultural Dialogue and Translation (CIDT) in the southern Cairo district of al-Ma’ādī on Thursday (June 21) did not seek the internationalization of the issue or resorting to international organizations against the church but rather to clarify the league’s position, said Nādir al-Sirafī, the league’s official spokesman.

The 1938 statute allows Copts to obtain divorce and re-marry.

Rafīq Fārūq, the league’s chairman, said the objective of his group is to keep the church away from legislating for Copts, re-activate the 1938 statute and abolish the amendments introduced by late Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenouda III, which caused suffering for thousands of Copts in Egyptian courts. [Mustafá Rahūmah, al-Watan, June 22, p. 6] Read text in Arabic