Source: Associated Press
Publication date: 2002-07-19
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CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — The head of the Coptic Orthodox Church criticized the Jehovah’s Witness faith and said a Copt’s conversion to the sect was a ground for divorce, Egypt’s Middle East News Agency reported on Friday.
Pope Shenouda III said conversion to the Jehovah’s Witness faith was a ground for divorce within his church. The only other ground for divorce is adultery.
The Coptic church allows people of other Christian denominations to intermarry, but disapproves of their divorce, which still can be achieved if taken to the courts.
Copts marrying Muslims, who make up most of Egypt’s 68 million population, are also excommunicated.
Speaking in his weekly lecture, the 78-year old patriarch said Jehovah’s Witnesses have been active in Egypt for years and have grown more active recently. The faith is “independent and unrelated to all the monotheistic religions,” MENA reported him as saying.
“Jehovah’s Witnesses have been rejected by all Christian groups,” he added.
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Copts make up less than 10 percent of the population in Egypt, where Islam is the state religion, but the Coptic community worldwide is estimated at 27 million.