Christian denominations can build churches in Egypt unhindered

Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak has issued a decree authorizing governors "to issue licences needed by Christian denominations to demolish, expand and/or build churches."

The government noted that "according to the decree governors would be obliged to make decisions on applications for licences within 30 days. Reasons should be given for any applications that might be rejected."

This comes to remedy a concern of the Christian community about their ability to build new churches and repair old ones, in light of the fact that such requirements are not imposed on mosques according to some.

By requiring an explanation from the government if an application is rejected, and limiting the response for application approval to a maximum of 30 days, the government seems to have set in place the ground rule for an effective policy to solve this problem.