The Ministry of Justice and the five officially recognized Christian sects in Egypt have signed the long-awaited draft of the Personal Status Law for Christians, counselor Monsef Naguib Suleiman, a key advisor to the Coptic Orthodox Church and Member of Parliament, announced on Saturday, 14 December.
The law is hailed as a historic first for Egypt, according to Suleiman, marking a significant milestone in the legal recognition of Christian family matters in the country.
During a phone interview on Saturday evening with TV anchor Amr Adib on Al-Hekaya program on MBC Masr, Suleiman explained that the drafting process of the law began in 1977, but faced numerous delays over the years.
“It was only after recent efforts, guided by the President’s directives, that a comprehensive and unified version of the law was agreed upon by all five Christian denominations,” Suleiman said.
Suleiman highlighted several key provisions of the new law, most notably its groundbreaking changes regarding divorce and inheritance. Concerning divorce, the law expands the grounds for invalidating a marriage, where any form of fraud in the marriage contract will now justify a divorce.
Previously, divorce was only allowed in cases of infidelity, yet the new law allows for divorce in any situation where deception is found, reflecting a significant shift in the legal approach to marital integrity.
Another critical development is the treatment of inheritance. Suleiman emphasized that the new law adheres to Article 2 of the Egyptian Constitution, which requires compliance with the provisions of the holy books. This law includes the principle of gender equality in inheritance, whereas men and women will inherit equally, a decision rooted in the church’s commitment to equality as reflected in religious texts.
Christianity is the second-largest religion in Egypt, with the majority of Egyptian Christians identifying as Coptic. While there are no recent statistics, it is commonly known that Coptic Christians comprise about 10 percent of the country’s population, totaling an estimated 9.5 to 11 million people.
