09/20/2021 Egypt (International Christian Concern) – Church of the Holy Virgin in Maadi is one of many buildings affected by recent Nile flooding. Those responsible for the church have applied several times for a permit to build a protection wall against the Nile bank to prevent such occurrences from happening, but have not yet received a reply.
The church was first mentioned in the 10th century, though it may be older, and was built on the site where tradition says the Holy Family boarded a boat and sailed to Upper Egypt. Now, the historic church site is inundated with floodwaters. Anything at basement level across the church grounds is covered in water. Rooms and passageways from the Nile to the church courtyard are also flooded. Concerns are now rising that the floodwater would reach the old church building.
Egypt has recently put efforts into restoring Christian landmarks in an attempt to boost the country’s faith tourism sector, though as commented by ICC, this does not equate to religious freedom for Egyptian Christians. In August, another round of churches received approval for Christian worship. Both of these efforts fail to protect at-risk Christian sites like the Church of the Holy Virgin from this preventable destruction.
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