A wall too far: Why a church expansion sparked clashes in Helwan

Just ten minutes were enough to transform the quiet streets of Zohour Mayo (May Flowers) in the southern Helwan suburb into a scene of chaos—people running, retreating and hurling stones. Christian residents had gathered to protest the demolition of a concrete wall built by their local church, which hoped to expand its grounds. Facing them were security forces tasked with carrying out a demolition order.

The confrontation revived memories of earlier sectarian flashpoints in Egypt linked to disputes over building or expanding churches, most notably tensions surrounding the Omraniya Church in Giza in late 2010.

On Feb. 3, about 150 Christian residents, led by parish priest Father Athanasius, confronted security forces enforcing a demolition order for a concrete wall built by the Church of the Virgin Mary and Pope Kyrillos on about 12,000 square meters of land, including 8,100 square meters belonging to the 15th May City Authority.

The construction violated a decision by the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA), which had allocated only 1,950 square meters for a church to serve residents relocated from the Zarayeb district after floods destroyed their homes in 2020.

At the start of the protest, demonstrators attempted to reassure the security forces that their gathering was peaceful. They chanted a familiar slogan meant to evoke Muslim–Christian unity: “Crescent and cross—one hand.”

But plainclothes security personnel insisted on dispersing the crowd and pressing ahead with what officials described as a “demolition mission.” The confrontation quickly escalated.

Some protesters attempted to flee, fearing arrest. Others threw stones. Amid the confusion, voices rang out: “They’re arresting the women… they’re arresting the women.”

By the time the clash subsided, two police officers had been injured—including the head of investigations at the Tebbin police station. Eighteen people, among them five women, were taken into custody in connection with Case No. 613 of 2026.

The defendants were interrogated by the Helwan Prosecution for Incidents. Prosecutors initially ordered the men detained while releasing the women pending investigation on guarantees tied to their place of residence. Later, all defendants were released on bail of 2,000 Egyptian pounds each, and the case was referred to trial.

Al Manassa obtained the full transcripts of the interrogations with the defendants, revealing additional details about the incident through the accounts of all parties involved.

1,900 meters are not enough

At the end of 2021, Egypt’s Ministry of Housing announced plans to redevelop the area known as 15th of May Zarayeb—home to many garbage collectors—into a planned residential district called Zohour May as part of a presidential initiative to upgrade informal settlements.

Residents and the parish priest say the redevelopment, which followed the devastating floods of 2020, reshaped streets and housing but stopped at the church’s boundaries. The state allocated about 1,950 square meters for the church, which Father Athanasius told prosecutors was insufficient for the area’s large Christian population.

“I raised the issue with Bishop Mikhail of Helwan,” Athanasius said. “He told me he would submit a request because the space was not sufficient. After that, there was no response.”

He said this led him to build a wall on an additional 8,100 square meters without a license.

According to presidential data, the Zohour May development covers about 68 feddans and includes 42 residential buildings with 1,008 finished units of about 90 square meters each, along with service facilities including a school, nursery, church, mosque, medical center and commercial market.

Athanasius told prosecutors that residents’ complaints grew over time. “People started objecting, and I kept conveying their concerns to Bishop Mikhail,” he said. “I explained that people were upset.”

The legal maze of church construction

In Egypt, building houses of worship does not follow a single unified regulatory framework. Churches in particular are subject to a complex set of procedures and administrative approvals that often prove more restrictive than those governing mosques.

Although the 2016 Law on the Construction and Restoration of Churches was introduced as a long‑awaited reform intended to regularize thousands of unlicensed churches and simplify the licensing process, rights organizations say the law has fallen short of its stated goal.

Groups such as the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights argue that the legislation did not ultimately guarantee an easier path to building or renovating churches. Instead, they continue to call for a unified law governing the construction of all houses of worship.

Under the current law, any repair, reinforcement or expansion of an existing church requires prior approval from the provincial governor.

However, the legislation does not clearly specify what legal recourse is available if a governor simply fails to respond to such requests — a bureaucratic silence that, in practice, can stall projects indefinitely.

In his testimony, Father Athanasius described a phone call with Bishop Mikhail that took place in May of last year.

“I called him and told him the situation was becoming difficult and people were reaching their limit. We needed a solution to expand the church,” Athanasius said. “He told me to start working on the area we had agreed to request while the application process continued.”

The following day after the confrontation, the Diocese of Helwan and Maadi issued a statement distancing itself from the construction.

The diocese said that President Abdel Fattah El‑Sisi had directed authorities to allocate land for a church in every new urban community, and that NUCA had indeed allocated a 1,950‑square‑meter plot for a church serving residents of the Helwan and Maadi diocese as well as the city of 15th of May.

But the statement added that those responsible for constructing the wall had exceeded the allocated boundaries and annexed additional neighboring plots without the approval of church leadership.

Father Athanasius rejected that characterization during questioning.

He acknowledged that he decided to build the wall on the additional land without formal permits, hoping that the church would later succeed in legalizing the expansion.

Then he paused during the interrogation.

“That’s when I discovered that Bishop Mikhail had never actually submitted any requests,” he said.

The priest added that residents later advised him to file a formal petition with the minister of housing regarding the additional land.

“I submitted the request last December, but I never received any response,” he said. “So we continued construction. Then this morning we were surprised by the demolition campaign.”

Brick and rubble

The security narrative appears in the case file through the report prepared by the Criminal Investigations Unit at the 15 May police station, along with testimony from two officers injured during the incident: Lt. Col. Mostafa Abdel Aal, head of investigations in Tebbin, and Maj. Mohamed Alaa El‑Din of the Central Security Forces.

According to the report, the confrontation began when a joint security force moved on Feb. 3, 2026 to enforce Demolition Order No. 480 of 2025 issued by the 15 May City Authority.

The order targeted Father Athanasius after he erected a concrete wall and pillars measuring about five meters in height in front of an administrative building belonging to the 15 May City Authority. The construction expanded the wall to enclose roughly 8,100 square meters.

The report states that the enclosed area includes an administrative facility belonging to the city authority—described as a rest compound consisting of three single‑story buildings—as well as a secondary road containing utility infrastructure adjacent to the plot of land.

According to the police report, the crowd “threw stones at the participating forces in an attempt to prevent the implementation of the decision.”

The confrontation resulted in two officers sustaining head injuries: the head of investigations for the Helwan police division and a Central Security officer holding the rank of major. Both were transferred to hospital for treatment.

Security forces arrested 18 individuals—13 men and five women—who they said were among those gathered at the demolition site. Father Athanasius was also detained at the scene.

Subsequent police investigations concluded that the arrested individuals had assaulted the security forces and resisted authorities with the intention of obstructing the demolition order.

Both injured officers told prosecutors that security forces initially intended to negotiate rather than confront the crowd.

Lt. Col. Mostafa Abdel Aal said they approached to persuade the group to vacate the land peacefully and explain that the decision was official, but were “surprised” when people began throwing bricks and large stones before they could speak.

Maj. Mohamed Alaa El-Din told investigators the confrontation lasted about 10 minutes on an asphalt road where the two sides stood roughly 20 meters apart, face to face. He said the stone-throwing aimed to prevent security forces from carrying out their duties.

Both officers were struck in the head, sustaining lacerations that required stitches. Abdel Aal said he was hit in the back of the head with “a large brick — like a piece of rubble” and needed three stitches, later telling investigators: “I’m fine now.”

Both officers accused the 18 detainees of causing their injuries.

However, when Lt. Col. Abdel Aal was asked about Father Athanasius’ role in the incident, he said the priest had been present at the site but had neither resisted the police nor incited the defendants.

A call from National Security

Investigation transcripts indicate the demolition was not entirely unexpected for Father Athanasius.

He told prosecutors that the day before the incident he received a call from National Security officer Ahmed Assi, who said a delegation from the 15 May City Authority would inform him of the violations ahead of the demolition. “I told him that I was at their service in anything,” the priest said.

Despite the call, Athanasius said he was shocked when bulldozers arrived the next morning and clashes broke out. “I found myself at the church door and the loaders were already breaking the wall,” he said, adding that residents defended the church because they did not understand there was a demolition order.

The testimonies of the injured officers and police investigations did not implicate Athanasius as a suspect. Prosecutors recorded his statements “for evidentiary purposes,” later releasing him without charges while detaining the male defendants and releasing the female defendants pending investigation.

Random arrests

The wall was still being demolished as security forces escorted the 18 defendants from the site.

Investigation records show that 13 of those arrested—including several women—worked in sanitation or garbage collection, while others were house painters, livestock farm workers or homemakers.

Several defendants, particularly women and younger men, told prosecutors they were detained at random and had not taken part in the clashes. Abanoub Magdy and Milad Bakhit said they were returning from work collecting garbage when security forces stopped them. Mariam Magdy said she had stepped outside to look for her nine-year-old son when she was arrested, while Fangari Refaat said he had been searching for his children.

Unlike most defendants — who said they had not witnessed the clashes or stood at the center of the confrontation — Gerges El-Romani Wissa gave a detailed account. Wissa, who works at a café opposite the church, said that about three months earlier “Father Athanasius built a wall around the church,” and officials from the district administration and police had visited several times to discuss it but left without action.

On the day of the demolition, Wissa said he was at the café when police and Central Security arrived. “We knew they had come to demolish the wall Father Athanasius built,” he said, adding that residents gathered to stop the demolition and began throwing bricks at security forces.

“In the end they broke the wall and took many of us,” Wissa said. “But I wasn’t doing anything. I was just standing there collecting the café chairs.”

Charges that carry prison sentences

On Feb. 19, 2026, the Helwan misdemeanor review judge ordered the release of the defendants on bail of 2,000 pounds each. The Public Prosecution later referred them to trial before the Helwan Misdemeanor Court, with the first hearing scheduled for March 12, 2026.

They face charges of insulting public employees by gesture, speech or threat while performing their duties, and resisting public officials with force and violence while they were carrying out those duties, under Articles 133 and 136 of the Penal Code. Each charge carries a minimum penalty of six months in prison and a fine of at least 200 pounds.

In a February 2026 statement, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said authorities bore responsibility for the escalation, arguing the events could have been avoided if officials had issued formal warnings and notified the church of the demolition order with enough time to remove the violation before enforcement. The group also said clashes intensified partly due to violations by demolition forces during arrests.

It called on officials from NUCA, the 15 May City Authority, the church’s parish priest and the bishop of the Helwan and Maadi diocese to reach an amicable agreement addressing the needs of Christians in the area and ensuring they can safely practice their religious rites.

Investigation records state the operation ended with the complete demolition of the unauthorized concrete wall and the return of the land to the 15 May City Authority, while the defendants await the case’s outcome after what they described as an attempt to defend the expansion of “God’s house.”