Photo: Adobe Stock

Ishtartv.com- billygraham.org

Hannah Davis, June 5, 2026

The Egyptian government granted legal status to 191 churches and church-affiliated buildings, pointing to the nation’s greater efforts to remedy the non-licensed statuses of thousands of Christian congregations. 

After a May 19 cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli, the government approvals were issued to the churches. 

Reverend Khalaf Barakat, president of the General Evangelical Baptist Assembly in Egypt, expressed thankfulness that such measures are being taken to protect churches.

“Baptist churches, like many others, have benefited from these measures, while some churches are still awaiting the completion of the legalization process according to the schedules and mechanisms approved by the state,” Barakat said in an interview with Christian Daily International. “We appreciate the spirit of cooperation shown by the relevant authorities in dealing with this matter over the past years.”

A government committee was established in 2016 to address the pushback against Christian churches’ legal statuses. Since 2016, 3,804 churches and church-affiliated buildings have been legally recognized. 

The government committee was established following the implementation of Egypt’s 2016 Church Construction Law No. 80. The law extended the duty of approving church construction and renovations from security agencies to provincial governors, increasing the number of officials involved.  

Under the law, churches must pay required fees, prove land ownership and follow structural and safety building benchmarks.

Despite the growth, tens of thousands of churches still have not received legal recognition. Christians in Egypt are a minority group, comprising about 10% of the 100 million population. Egypt has the largest population of Christians in the Middle East. 

Yet, Christians still face persecution. Open Doors in a 2026 report states that in Egypt, “most religious freedom violations happen within local communities.”

“These include Christian women being harassed or mobs forcing Christian families to leave after someone is accused of blasphemy,” the report said. 

Conversions from Islam to Christianity also cannot be officially recognized because of Islamic laws against blasphemy. 

Lizzie Francis Brink, legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom International, says believers “still face the reality that they are a minority in a Muslim country that has long struggled to support the existence of other religious groups around them.”

“Among the persecuted are Egypt’s Christians, who live in a land of ancient wonders and rich history—yet face daily discrimination, harsh restrictions, and constant pressure to hide their faith,” Brink said. “Despite Egypt’s status as a cultural and historical giant in Africa, it remains an ongoing struggle for many believers.”

Egypt’s Parliament is considering two bills that would establish separate family laws for Christians and for Muslims, which could effectively allow Christians to be free of legal frameworks in marriage and family affairs derived from Islam. The bills are known as the Personal Status Law for Muslims and the Personal Status Law for Egyptian Christians.

The law for Christians would apply to those within the Evangelical Church of Egypt, Coptic Orthodox Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Greek Orthodox Church, Armenian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church in Egypt. The law would apply to marriage and engagements, divorces, child custody and inheritance issues. 

Parliament can still amend the bills before they become laws.