The Coptic divorce struggle in contemporary Egypt

2019 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-351
Author(s):  
Sebastian Elsässer

Since his accession in 2012, Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II has initiated a number of reforms within the church, including a major overhaul of the church court system and the introduction of more liberal provisions concerning divorces. This article explores the historical development and current state of divorce and divorce law within the Coptic Orthodox Community in Egypt and the complex interactions between Coptic citizens, their church, and state courts. Scrutinising interviews and press statements by the new pope and senior clerics, it investigates their ideas of Coptic family law and their justification for changing the Church’s approach to the divorce issue. It also takes the perspective of divorced Copts and looks at the myriad paths people have been following in search of legal and administrative loopholes, and assesses the impact that the new regulations will have on their lives.

Author(s):  
Simon Yarrow

‘Early modern sainthood’ describes the impact of the 16th-century Reformation on the image of the Christian saint. The Reformation, triggered by Augustinian friar Martin Luther, was a struggle for the highest stakes between fierce adversaries over the relationship between church and state, the authority and mission of the Church, the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith, and the conscience of every soul in Christendom. It spurred immense intellectual creativity, fuelled iconoclasm and bitter polemic, and brought protracted war and martyrdom. It ultimately divided Europe into the Catholic states of southern Europe and those states of northern Europe whose princes embraced various kinds of Protestantism.


2009 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 287a-287a
Author(s):  
Mariz Tadros

This paper asserts that in 1952 an entente was forged between the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Egyptian government that provided the church with concessions in return for its political allegiance to the regime. The period prior to 1952 also witnessed the Coptic church leadership forging alliances with regimes in power; however, its ability to represent Copts vis-à-vis the state was rivaled by other Coptic voices in civil society such as the Majlis al-Milli. From 1952 on, the inhibition of Copts' voices in civil society increased the church's political power, and it developed into the undisputed voice representing the Coptic community. The relationship between church and state in the past fifty years has been volatile, affected not only by the nature of the relationship between leaders of the church and state but also by the emergence of other important players within and outside these two entities. Strains characteristic of the period leading up to the temporary dissolution of the entente in the 1970s are becoming visible today in the church–state relationship. This paper suggests that the current entente between the church and the state is being stretched to its limit although it is not likely to be dissolved.


Author(s):  
Andreas Schmoller

This article explores the inter-church and church-state relations of the Syriac Orthodox and Coptic Orthodox Churches in Austria. The strong historic role of the Catholic Church in Austria's political landscape provides the central framework to understand the “story of success” regarding relations with both the Catholic Church and state authorities in Austria. Summarizing the history of migration and establishment of diaspora churches in Austria, the article explores the impact of the support of the Catholic Church in the process of institutionalization. In addition, state recognition and examples of church-state interaction are highlighted. The findings support the conclusion that minority churches from the Oriental Orthodox tradition have benefitted strongly from their relations with the majority church and the state. However, their authority in both religious and political contexts also affects personal leadership and internal affiliations which can lead to divisions within the church communities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 94 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 245-271
Author(s):  
Antony Wayne Keane-Dawes

Abstract In 1824, the Haitian government passed a series of laws that secularized the Catholic Church’s lands in Santo Domingo and placed this religious institution under state control. Using correspondences, pamphlets, and petitions, this article argues that Haitian reforms of the Church in Santo Domingo created a new power dynamic that incorporated local communities with these secular and religious institutions. In doing so, this literature brings together two literatures that rarely speak to one another: the impact of the Haitian Unification on the Church in Santo Domingo and Haitian diplomatic negotiations over sovereignty in the Atlantic world. This article will discuss how different relationships between Church and state in Santo Domingo and Haiti resulted in conflict after Haiti’s annexation in 1822. Next, it will focus on the clerics’ responses to Haitian rule that includes the consequences of the 1824 secularization law. Finally, it will examine the impact of Haitian reforms on local communities particularly their relationships with their priests.


2010 ◽  
pp. 475-482
Author(s):  
Janusz Salamon, SJ

The article is a polemic with the pessimistic assessment of the current state of the Christian-Jewish dialog presented by Waldemar Chrostowski in his recent book Kościół, Żydzi, Polska [The Church, Jews, Poland]. The author criticizes Rev. Chrostowski for defining the Christian-Jewish and Polish-Jewish relations in terms of strict opposition and unavoidable conflict of interests, and for putting all blame on Jews, while absolving Christians from all their past and present sins which contributed to the tensions between the two communities.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 244-261
Author(s):  
Mariola Tracz ◽  
Małgorzata Bajgier-Kowalska ◽  
Radosław Uliszak

Podkarpackie Voivodeship is one of the regions of Poland in which the number of agritourism entities is very high. Therefore tourism plays a significant role in its development strategy. The aim of the paper is to identify the current state of agritourism and the changes that have occurred in the region in the years 2000–2016. Specific objectives are to determine the distribution of agritourism farms and their offer, together with a comprehensive analysis of the environmental and socio-economic factors, as well as the impact of the Slovak-Ukrainian border. The report was developed on the statistical materials from the Polish Central Statistical Office, Podkarpackie Agricultural Advisory Centre in Boguchwała and data collected from municipalities and district offices that is published on their websites, as well as through interviews with 100 owners of agritourism farms in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship. The research has shown, on the one hand, the decline in the number of farms in the region and, on the other hand, the increase in the diversity of the tourist offer of these entities. Distribution of agritourism farms is closely linked to the attractiveness of natural environment and quality of secondary tourism resources. Traditional agritourism has not yet fully used its countryside, as well as cross-border advantages of its location.


2020 ◽  
pp. 71-84
Author(s):  
Ярослав Очканов

Статья посвящена исследованию малоизученной стороны деятельности видного русского священнослужителя протоиерея Евгения Попова, бывшего с 1842 по 1875 гг. настоятелем русской посольской церкви в Лондоне. Его служение на Английской земле совпало с углублением диалога между Русской Православной и Англиканской церквами, явившегося следствием религиозных преобразований в Англии в 1830 - 1840-е гг. Отец Евгений в рассматриваемый период фактически стал связующим звеном между русским церковноначалием и англиканами - инициаторами единения двух Церквей. Он проделал огромную работу по популяризации православия в Англии и много сделал для ознакомления русской церковной общественности с вероучением и структурными особенностями англиканства. Материалом для исследования послужили, прежде всего, письма протоиерея Евгения Попова обер-прокурорам Святейшего Синода Н. А. Протасову и А. П. Толстому. Эти документы являются своеобразными отчётами о современном состоянии Англиканской Церкви, о религиозных течениях в ней и усилиях, предпринимаемых определёнными церковными кругами в Англии по сближению с православием. Результаты его деятельности имели важное значение в последующие десятилетия, когда англикано-православный диалог вышел на церковно-государственный уровень. The article is devoted to the insufficiently studied aspects of Russian prominent cleric Archpriest Eugene Popov, rector of Russian Embassy Church in London from 1842 to 1875. His Ministry on the English soil coincided with the deepening of the dialogue between the Russian Orthodox and Anglican Churches, which was the result of religious transformations in England in the 1830s and 1840s. Father Eugene in the period under consideration actually became a connecting link between the Russian Church authorities and the anglicans-initiators of the union of the two Churches. He had done a great job by popularizing Orthodoxy in England and by familiarizing the Russian Church community with the doctrine and structural features of Anglicanism. The study, first of all, is based the letters of Archpriest Yevgeny Popov to the chief prosecutors of the Holy Synod N. A. Protasov and A. P. Tolstoy, which were original reports on the current state of the Anglican Church, it’s religious trends, and the efforts made by certain Church circles in England to get closer to Orthodoxy. The fruits of his activities were important in the following decades, when the Anglican-Orthodox dialogue reached the Church-state level.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-92
Author(s):  
Rotimi Williams Omotoye

Pentecostalism as a new wave of Christianity became more pronounced in 1970's and beyond in Nigeria. Since then scholars of Religion, History, Sociology and Political Science have shown keen interest in the study of the Churches known as Pentecostals because of the impact they have made on the society. The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) was established by Pastor Josiah Akindayomi in Lagos,Nigeria in 1952. After his demise, he was succeeded by Pastor Adeboye Adejare Enock. The problem of study of this research was an examination of the expansion of the Redeemed Christian Church of God to North America, Caribbean and Canada. The missionary activities of the church could be regarded as a reversed mission in the propagation of Christianity by Africans in the Diaspora. The methodology adopted was historical. The primary and secondary sources of information were also germane in the research. The findings of the research indicated that the Redeemed Christian Church of God was founded in North America by Immigrants from Nigeria. Pastor Adeboye Enock Adejare had much influence on the Church within and outside the country because of his charisma. The Church has become a place of refuge for many immigrants. They are also contributing to the economy of the United States of America. However, the members of the Church were faced with some challenges, such as security scrutiny by the security agencies. In conclusion, the RCCGNA was a denomination that had been accepted and embraced by Nigerians and African immigrants in the United States of America.


Author(s):  
Detlef Pollack ◽  
Gergely Rosta

The chapter on Poland focuses on two questions. Why, in contrast to all other state-socialist countries, did the church’s capacity for integration actually increase rather than decrease despite persecution and discrimination during the communist period? And why has this capacity also remained more or less constant (albeit to a lesser extent) in the period since the end of communist rule? The authors have identified four key factors in the remarkable resistance of the Polish Catholic Church during the period of communist persecution: the fusion of religious and national values, the specific conflict dynamics of the church’s struggle with the state, the structural conservatism of agricultural production in Poland, and the actions of Pope John Paul II. Explanations for the surprising stability of religiosity in Poland after 1990 point to the behaviour of the Church itself, to the internal pluralization of Catholicism, and to the impact of a homogeneous religious culture.


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