Catholic Schools, Clinics and Refugee Aid Shape Christian Community’s Role in Egypt

Catholic missionaries in Egypt, including Combonian and Franciscan priests, work with orphaned, abandoned, and blind children and young people. According to the report, Franciscan Fathers welcome young people who are without parents or have been abandoned by their families, gathering them from the street and guiding them until they reach full independence. The same support is offered to blind young people.

The Catholic community is small. In a country of more than one hundred million people, Christians make up about 10 percent of the population, and Catholics number no more than 200,000. Despite its size, the Catholic presence is described as vital, with strong local roots and a notable capacity for social, educational, and cultural impact. Fr Diego Dalle Carbonare, a Combonian priest, said, “It is a small Church, but very rich culturally and spiritually,” and noted that priests live in close contact with people in villages and neighborhoods.

Education is the most visible Catholic contribution. The report states that 168 Catholic schools operate across Egypt, most of them run by religious congregations. Their teaching, organization, and focus on whole-person development are recognized. Franciscan friar Fr Filippo Farag observed that most of their students are Muslims, which he said makes Catholic schools one of the main meeting points for the country’s different religious communities.

Social and health work is another major area. Dispensaries, clinics, care centers, and charitable organizations are widespread, especially in the poorest areas, particularly in Upper Egypt. Caritas and parish and religious-order initiatives support needy families by providing medical care at affordable prices and material assistance.

The report also says that attention to refugees has grown in recent years, particularly to refugees from Sudan, whose number has increased significantly since the outbreak of civil war there. Father Dalle Carbonare said that solidarity with refugees is a priority and that many Catholic communities welcome people living in precarious conditions. Farag said Franciscan projects are appreciated “because we welcome everyone, regardless of their faith,” a practice of hospitality to strangers (Matthew 25:35).

The Franciscans, who say they number about ninety and work in almost all of Egypt’s major cities, run 17 schools, two of them free, along with four medical clinics open to all, homes for orphaned children, and facilities for blind people. Their cultural work includes centers for cinema, theatre, and Coptic studies. The Catholic Centre for Egyptian Cinema, founded seventy years ago, holds an annual festival that selects films of significant human and social value. The Center for Coptic Studies promotes research on theology, liturgy, history, and Coptic art, and collaborates with the Orthodox Church and al-Azhar University.

Relations with the Egyptian Orthodox Church, the largest Christian church in the country, are described as complex, though day-to-day cooperation is wide, especially in schools and social institutions where Catholics and Orthodox share common concerns. Relations with Muslims rest mainly on daily coexistence. Farag described this as “the dialogue of life,” saying that in schools, clinics, and parishes, Muslims and Christians meet daily. The report notes there is no structured, institutionalized dialogue, but a relationship built on concrete gestures, joint work, and trust formed over time.

Dalle Carbonare said Christians in Egypt have freedom of worship and that the State protects churches, while acknowledging occasional episodes of intolerance by individuals. The government has also donated land to the Catholic Church in new cities under construction, including the new administrative capital, where a Catholic place of worship is planned in the diplomatic neighborhood. Even so, the report says Catholics remain a minority and are often disadvantaged in professional opportunities, especially in rural areas.

Source: Read the original report (translated from Spanish)