It has been two days now since the community centre built in Bahteem in Shubral- Kheima, Qalyubiya, north of Cairo, has been closed down by hardline Muslims.
It has been two days now since the community centre built in Bahteem in Shubral- Kheima, Qalyubiya, north of Cairo, has been closed down by hardline Muslims.
On Thursday 19 January, a number of Coptic clerics headed to the recently-erected building, but were prevented from going in by hardline Muslim neighbours who insisted that the clerics were attempting to turn the building into a non-licensed church. They asked the clerics to produce the licence for the building, and banned them form entering it.
Shubral- Kheima bishopric insists that the building, which has been named after the saint Abu-Maqar (St Maqarius) and has not yet been officially opened, has been established to serve some 1200 families who live in the vicinity and have no access to a church or church services anywhere near. Anba Marqus, Bishop of Shubral-Kheima, told Watani the building was fully licensed as a community centre, and the hardline Muslims should not be allowed to “take the law in their hands”—especially given that no violation was committed.
The building remains closed, and efforts are being made by the Church and the local authorities to resolve the problem.