As the third annual conference of the Secular Coptic Front ended earlier this week the movement decided to shift its focus from previous demands for reform within the Coptic Church to reform of the civil rights of the community, the Egyptian newspaper The Daily News Egypt reported.
Despite constituting some 10 percent of Egypt’s population of 78 million, the Copts are discriminated against by the rest of society. A majority of Copts are members of the Coptic Orthodox Church, which is the oldest form of Christianity in Africa and one of the earliest forms of Christianity in the world.
Kamal Zakhir, a Coptic intellectual and general secretary of the Secular Coptic Front, was quoted by The Daily News Egypt as saying he had received the blessing of members of the Coptic Orthodox Church despite the secular nature of the conference.
One of the main issues addressed by the conference, which gathered together participants from a variety of faiths, was the connection between citizenship and religion. The Egyptian Deputy Minister of Endowments Sheikh Salim ‘Abd Al-Galil, a Muslim, pointed out that within Islam the concept of citizenship was defined as the act of giving as much as possible to the home country without any discrimination between Muslims, Christians and Jews.
Many other participants pointed out that Article Two of the Egyptian constitution still proclaims that Islam is the principal source of legislation and therefore of citizenships.
Rif’at Fikri, a priest of the Anglican Church, defined citizenship as an act that transcends all loyalties, including religious ones.