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The Episcopal / Anglican Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East

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The Episcopal / Anglican Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa

____________________________________________________________________________
Primate:
Address:
Tel.:
Email:

The Most Rev. Dr. Mouneer Hanna Anis

5 Michel Lutfallah Street
Zamalek, 11211, Cairo, Egypt
+20 2 27380821/3/9
bishopmouneer@gmail.com

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11211

Dear brothers and sisters,

Some of our friends asked me to respond to this statement made by the Protestant Churches
of Egypt or, as it is known in Egypt, the Evangelical Churches Association(ECA). At the
start, I would like to say that I am very sorry that the relationship between our denominations
in Egypt has reached this stage. I have wished that we would resolve our problems in a more
Christian way than waiting for the court to judge the churches. Indeed, I visited the President
Reverend Dr Andrea Zaki in his office immediately after his election to President. I was
accompanied by Dean Samy Fawzy of St Marks Pro-Cathedral in Alexandria. We offered
him an agreement between our churches to co-operate in ministry. I emphasized the
importance of working together to advance the kingdom of God, rather than fighting for
dominance. I even presented a draft of such an agreement; he said that their council members
were not easy. I persuaded him to put it to the council anyway but I discovered later that he
had not.
Now I would like to respond to every part of his statement:
The historical relationship between Central Office of the Protestant Churches of
Egypt (which officially represents the 18 protestant denominations before the state),
and the Episcopal Anglican Church in Egypt began in the early 1940s, when the
Episcopal Anglican Church asked to approve the registration of marriage contracts
conducted by pastors of the Anglican Church, as well as authorization of the death
certificates they issue. After studying the case, the General Council of Protestant
Churches approved the registration of Anglican marriage contracts and death
certificates, using the council forms approved by the Bishop and Associate Bishop of
the Anglican Church. Therefore, the General Council of Protestant Churches has
implicitly considered the Episcopal Church as a member of the Protestant Churches
of Egypt ever since.
In 1944 the Anglican Church in Egypt asked to register (not to approve) the marriages which
took place within the Anglican Church using ECA registry books. This is simply because at
that time all the Anglican priests, except a few junior ones, were ex-patriots and they had no
right to hold a registry book from the Ministry of Justice. When we started to have senior
Egyptian priests, the Ministry of Justice granted registry books to them. We now register all
our marriages independently, using our own registry books which we received from the
Ministry of Justice (MOJ). In fact, each holder of a registry book is appointed as a registrar
within the MOJ. This means that the government recognizes our church as an independent
denomination with the right to hold registry books. In addition, registering marriages in the
1940s does not mean putting the whole Anglican Church under the legal coverage of ECA.
Therefore, the General Council of Protestant Churches has implicitly considered the
Episcopal Church as a member of the Protestant Churches of Egypt ever since. On

October 10, 1980 former Anglican Church Bishop Isaac Mossad sent a request to the
President of the Protestant Churches of Egypt, to include the Episcopal Church under
the Protestant Churches of Egypt. In February 1982, the General Council of
Protestant Churches approved his request and considered the Episcopal Church an
Egyptian Protestant Church reserving all rights and duties of Protestant Churches of
Egypt.
On April 17, 1981 the Council decided to re-categorize the Protestant Churches into
four groups, where the Episcopal Church was considered as one of the churches
under the Protestant umbrella. The Ministry of Interior was informed of the decision
as required by law. On May 20, 1988, based on the Episcopal Church nomination,
former Bishop Gaius Abd El Malek, represented the Episcopal Church in the Council,
constantly attending and participating in council meetings. To date, the Episcopal
Church in Egypt is officially under the umbrella of Central Office of the Protestant
Churches of Egypt, with official documents proving the status.
If the Council of Protestant Churches, or ECA, considered the Anglican Church as a member
back in the 40s, why would the Bishop of the Anglican Church, Isaac Mossad, in 1980
request to include the Anglican Church under the Protestant Church of Egypt? The actual
story of 1982 is that when the government took over an Anglican school in Menouf, claiming
that it belonged to the British who had left in 1956, our lawyer at the time, who was then the
vice-president of the ECA, obtained a document that said that we were a national church, not
a foreign one. The President then considered the Anglican Church to be under his authority
because of this document. It is worth mentioning that Bishop Isaac Mossad, on October 10
1980, was not the Bishop of the Diocese but he was actually retired. The Anglican church
was without a bishop until 1984.
In 1984, when the new bishop was elected, the Ministry of Interior (MOI) wrote to the
diocese asking how the election happened, and if we had become independent of the
Archbishop of Canterbury, who used to appoint the bishop in Egypt. We explained to them
how the Archbishop of Canterbury relinquished his metropolitan authority to the Provincial
Synod of Jerusalem and the Middle East. They then asked for the constitution of the central
synod and they continued to correspond with us until after 1985. If this means anything, it
would mean that the Ministry of Interior does not recognize the Anglican Church as part of
the ECA but as an independent entity.
In regard to the presence of the former Bishop Gaius Abd El Malek within the ECA council,
this mainly happened as a personal initiative. He never got approval from the diocese and
synod, or the Central Synod to take this step. As I mentioned before, he was a personal friend
of Reverend Doctor Samuel Habib, then the President of ECA. The Central Synod wrote a
document last year in this regard (attached).
Since 2007, after Bishop Mounir Hanna became Bishop of the Episcopal Church in
Egypt, the Church began thinking of separating from the Protestant Churches of
Egypt, raising a number of cases before the Egyptian courts, calling for the abolition
of the Minister of Interiors decision considering the Episcopal Church as a
denomination under Central Office of the Protestant Churches of Egypt. The courts
rejected all appeals presented by the Episcopal Church, and most recently the final
verdict issued by the Supreme Court of Egypt on June 25, 2016.

In fact, I became a bishop in 2000, not 2007. When Bishop Gaius handed over the
responsibility to me, he made it very clear that we are an independent denomination; he said
that the signatory and the seal of the Bishop of Egypt are recognized in the Ministry of
Interior (MOI). I followed his advice and sent my signatory and seal to the MOI and they
immediately recognized them. Since then every document I produce has been ratified by the
MOI, until 3 weeks ago when the ECA asked the MOI not to ratify our documents. This
means that during the last 16 years the government recognized us as an independent entity,
not like the rest of the Protestant Churches under the ECA who should go through the ECA
before the ratification of their documents.
In regard to the court verdict on June 25 2016, we are convinced that many of our documents
were intentionally ignored by the court that is why we are raising a new court case to present
these documents afresh to the court.
Concerning the Episcopal Churchs claim that Central Office of the Protestant
Churches of Egypt has taken over some of the Churchs properties, this accusation is
an attempt to create confusion between the entities of Central Office of the Protestant
Churches of Egypt and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church; which is one of the
eighteen denominations under Central Office of the Protestant Churches of Egypt.
The claims regarding the Evangelical Presbyterian Church taking over two churches,
one in Suez and another in Ismailia, is a problem between two churchesthe
Anglican Church and the Presbyterian Church. Central Office of the Protestant
Churches of Egypt is not an involved party in the matter. As for the Church of Suez, it
has been handed over to the Episcopal Church upon the Presbyterian Churchs
approval. Concerning the church of Ismailia, there is still a pending case before the
courts. This church was established by the British, but the land was owned by the
Suez Canal Authority, which in turn handed it over to the Presbyterian Church to be
used many years ago after the nationalization of the canal and the departure of the
British. Later, the Episcopal Church claimed ownership of the church because it
belonged to the British. There is currently a dispute over the ownership of the church
between the Presbyterian Church and the Suez Canal Authority, overlapping the
Episcopal Church.
In regard to our two church properties, All Saints Ismailia and Saint Saviors Church in Suez,
what is written above is far from the truth. In June 1967 there was a war between Egypt and
Israel which continued on and off until 1973. During this time all the people in the Suez
Canal area were relocated to other provinces within Egypt. All the churches at that time were
empty. After the Camp David agreement in 1978 the ECA, which is dominated by the
Presbyterian Church, asked if they could use our church building. Our Bishop at that time
agreed on the condition that no changes should happen to the interior or exterior of the
churches, and also that the priority for service times would go to the Anglican Church when
we resumed ministry in these places. This was written in the Presbyterian Church Synod
book in 1978. However, the pastor of the Presbyterian church in Ismailia, using the All Saints
building, forged some documents and raised a court case against his son-in-law, which was
rigged by both of them, in order to dispute the ownership of the Church in a court with the
son-in-law agreeing to give ownership to the Presbyterian pastor. This was done without the
knowledge and approval of the Anglican Church. However, one of the elders of the church
notified us about this unethical court case and advised us to intervene. When we submitted
the documents we have the court case was moved and was referred to the governments
office for property advice. It is still in court. However, the Presbyterian Church submitted a

document (we have a copy of it) that state that the church in Ismailia is owned by the
Presbyterians, which contradicts their own Synod records of 1978. The ECA (the Central
Office of the Protestant Churches of Egypt) are now saying that they are not an involved
party in the matter, this is in no way true. The President of the ECA and the Vice-President,
as well as 10 other members of this council, are all Presbyterian. The whole council only
consists of 16 members. They have promised many times to sort out this problem but they
have never taken action. A former president of the Presbyterian Synod told me that if I
wanted to take our property back, I would have to pay them 10million Egyptian Pound.
In regard to the church in Suez, the same thing happened. The pastor of the Presbyterian
church changed the name of the church, changed the interior of the church, and dismantled
the pipe organ throwing it away. He changed the lock of our vicarage next door and used it as
a private residence and hostel. My predecessor, Bishop Gaius, complained to the president of
the ECA because he was one of the signatories of the above mentioned agreement. The
president then, Reverend Dr Samuel Habib, advised the bishop to go to court. Moreover, he
gave him a document to defeat the claims of the Presbyterian Church (his own church),
saying that the Church of England, the Anglican Church, and the Episcopal Church are the
same. This is because the Presbyterian Church was claiming that the church in Suez belonged
to the Church of England, and that the British occupation had ended. It is worth mentioning
that both churches were confiscated by the government in 1955 as belonging to the British
but they were returned to the Anglican Church in 1959.
According to the Egyptian law, the role of the Central Office of the Protestant
Churches of Egypt is limited to validating all the purchase contracts, which are
signed by the different Protestant denominations members. It does not violate the
property of anyone. All contracts are official and concluded between the legal
representative of the denominations and the owner, the seller, and/or the buyer.
In Egypt, there are over 1500 Protestant churches and thousands of other properties.
The Central Office of the Protestant Churches of Egypt does not have the right to buy
or sell them because they are officially owned by independent
denominations/churches that are part of the Protestant Churches of Egypt.
My response to these two paragraphs is that some years ago the President of the ECA raised a
court case against the head of the Pentecostal Church. This case went up to the Supreme
Court which gave the verdict that properties owned by the different denominations under the
ECA belong to the ECA. With this verdict the president of the ECA then, took over 15
churches and appointed another head for the Pentecostal Church. He did not only take their
properties but also divided their church. The former president of the ECA reminded me
several times of this whenever I asked for him to sort out the ownership of the church in
Ismailia.
On the other hand, the Central Office of the Protestant Churches of Egypt, like all
other Egyptian Churches (Catholic and Orthodox), refuses to lobby foreign
governmentswith official representation in Egyptto put pressure on decision
makers to make decision in local disputes. This idea is completely rejected, especially
trying to put pressure on the Church and interfering with its internal affairs. All
disputes are settled amicably between the involved parties or through the Egyptian
courts.
I was surprised to read the sentence refuses to lobby foreign governmentswith official
representation in Egypt, because we have never done this. The President of the ECA is not
aware that we are part of the worldwide Anglican Communion; many of the members of this
communion are concerned about the problem we are facing, many ask how they can help. I

have advised them to pray for the situation and if they want to express their concerns to our
embassies abroad, they are free to do this. This is not lobbying foreign governments.
It is worth mentioning that the Anglican Diocese of Egypt was made a full member within
Egypt Council of Churches in 2013. The members of this council are: The Coptic Orthodox
Church, the Coptic Catholic Church, The Evangelical (Protestant) Church Association, The
Greek Orthodox Church and the Episcopal/ Anglican Church in Egypt. This means that the
other churches including the Evangelical recognized our independence.1
It is also important to mention that the Anglican Church in Egypt is a member of Beit El Aila
(House of the family).This initiative started by the Grand Imam of Al Azhar in 2011. Four
Christian denominations alongside several Muslim scholars represent this council. The Grand
Imam and the Pope of the Coptic Orthodox are co-chairs of this council.2 If we are seen by Al
Azhar and other churches that we are part of the ECA, we would not be accepted by Beit Al
Aila as full member.
In 2015, the President of Egypt welcomed the Archbishop of Canterbury and myself.
According to the protocol, if we are under ECA, the President of ECA should be present in
this meeting.3 Last October, the President met the Archbishops and bishops who came to
attend the Global South conference hosted by the Anglican Church in Egypt.4
Finally, I would appreciate your prayers for both the ECA and us. It is my prayer that we can
sort this out without allowing civil courts to decide our relationship.
May the Lord bless you!
Yours in Christ,
+Mouneer
The Most Rev. Dr. Mouneer Hanna Anis
Archbishop of Episcopal / Anglican Diocese of Egypt
1

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