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Egyptian church issues first conversion certificate to ex-Muslim
by Scott Gilbreath ~ April 12th, 2009
The Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt has for the first time issued a certificate of conversion to a Muslim-born Christian.
Maher al-Gohari, who is seeking to change his religion on his official documents from Muslim to Christian was asked by a court to provide a conversion certificate from the Egyptian church.
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It is only the second time that such a request has been formally made in a country where converting to Christianity, while not illegal, is practically impossible.
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Highlighting the sensitivity of the topic, the church would not comment on Gohari’s case specifically.“In general, the church cannot turn away anyone who reaches out to it, otherwise it would be abandoning one its role as a church.”
In other Muslim-majority countries, churches are reluctant to acknowledge Muslim conversions to Christianity for fear of reprisals from Islamic militants. In some places, Christians risk their lives for publicly confessing Jesus.
The first effort by a Muslim-born Egyptian officially to change his religious affiliation to Christianity ended in failure in January 2008 when a court refused to rule on Mohammed Hegazy’s petition.
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April 14th, 2009 at 09:59 PM
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