A file photo of St. Takla Haymanot's Church Orthodox church in Alexandria. Photo: Al-Ahram
This brings up the number of churches that have been legalized by the government in the past seven years to 2,815.
In 2016, parliament passed legislation easing the construction and renovation of churches as part of the government's efforts to guarantee freedom of worship.
In 2017, as per the 2016 legislation, the cabinet established a committee to review all requests to legalize the status of hundreds of unpermitted places of worship.
Comprising 10 members, the committee headed by the prime minister includes representatives from various Christian sects, six government officials from different ministries, as well as representatives from the national security and intelligence apparatus and the administrative control body.
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