Barnabas Fund, 22 March 2018
A special Egyptian committee legalised 53 Egyptian churches and related buildings in February, but thousands more still await registration.
In January 2018, the Egyptian government announced that Christians would be officially allowed to hold meetings in unlicensed buildings, pending their formal recognition as places of worship.
Thousands of churches in Egypt have never been officially registered. The previous restrictions made the process so difficult that many congregations had no option but to worship illegally in unlicensed buildings.
Despite the present repeal, a local court in Atfih handed down a large fine to the owner of an unlicensed church building on 31 January.