(CNA. Oleg Shihskov).
Church projects that had been halted in Egypt when the northern African nation was dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood are being resumed as Christians in the country begin to enjoy some measure of freedom. According to Catholic pontifical and charity foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International, Egypt’s Christians have more freedom of worship today than they did a few years ago, when the country was dominated by the radical Islamist group that ruled from 2012 until the beginning of July 2013. The patriarch of Alexandria, Archbishop Ibrahim Sidrak, told ACN that even though Christians in Egypt still experience different kinds of persecution, Coptic Catholics in the country — who number some 300,000 faithful — have seen it necessary to embark on the construction of churches to provide pastoral care to their members. “Now that the government has lifted the obstacles to building new churches, all the dioceses have building projects,” Sidrak said.