The restoration work at the church of Mar-Mina in the village of Daramalli in Beni Sweif, some 100km south of Cairo, has finally been completed at noon today. The work involved the replacement of the dilapidated wooden roof with a concrete one
The restoration work at the church of Mar-Mina in the village of Daramalli in Beni Sweif, some 100km south of Cairo, has finally been completed at noon today. The work involved the replacement of the dilapidated wooden roof with a concrete one.
The story goes back to early last month when a mob of hardline Salafi Muslims surrounded Mar-Mina’s and insisted that the construction work on the church roof should be stopped. Despite the fact that Mar Mina’s already had official licence, signed by Beni Sweif Governor Maher Beibars, to replace the old dilapidated wooden roof with a concrete one, the Muslim mob succeeded in forcing the church officials to halt the construction work.
The work was stopped and the church closed down till late in August when Governor Beibars officially declared the restoration permit valid, and approved the construction work. He forwarded his approval to the legal and building authorities at the governorate.
Two days later, however, and in a surprise move which the Copts of Daramalli described as inexplicable, the secretary general of the governorate of Beni Sweif, Sherif al-Gamasi, ordered a commission from the building authority to measure the area of the church of Mar Mina in Daramalli.
Daramalli Copts insisted that Mar-Mina’s had complied with all the official permits, and “not one square centimetre is out of order”. They complain that such methods were being used to deprive them of the fully-licensed restoration. The commission that inspected Mar-Mina’s finally confirmed that the church had indeed committed no violation whatsoever.
Finally, and in the official presence of a construction engineer from the Beni Sweif building authority, the work was finally completed and the Copts may go back to holding services at Mar-Mina’s
WATANI International
4 September 2012