A Hidden Church in Cairo Pins Its Hopes on Good Will From the Pope’s Visit<br />Most, like Father Saad, belong to the Coptic Catholic Church, the largest of the six Eastern Rite churches<br />that are loyal to the pope, even if their teachings diverge from Rome on issues that range from the esoteric (whether purgatory exists) to the pragmatic, like a decision, decades ago, to allow married men, like Father Saad, to enter the priesthood.<br />As publicity about the visit started to build two weeks ago, Father Saad took the plunge<br />and made the official application to legalize his new church, hoping to capitalize on the wave of good will toward the pontiff.<br />It made us cheat." For the past decade, his small Coptic Catholic congregation in a gritty north Cairo suburb has been trying<br />to build a new church in the teeth of official resistance — a common tale in Egypt, where the law panders to old prejudices.<br />But Father Saad still lacks a vital element — government permission — which leaves his church with the legal status of a religious speakeasy.<br />Yet even the rickshaw drivers know it is a church, Father Saad said, so he and his congregation are bracing for possible trouble.<br />"I think he’s a great priest." Merna, 16, chimed in: "I think he’s the best." Their father’s battle to build<br />a new house of worship highlights the enduring discrimination against Christians codified in Egyptian law.
