Decisions regarding Sat 7 satellite channel

In the meeting on 06/06/1998

Funded by evangelical organisations in America, this channel is interested in preaching the Protestant faith. The topic of membership of the Coptic Church in Sat 7 was presented to the Faith, Education and Legislative Committee in the Holy Synod, and the following points were studied:

1. Lack of clarity regarding the media policy of Sat 7, and its suitability for the region's religious and social conditions.
2. Not to give the Coptic Church an opportunity to evaluate the material broadcast on the Sat 7 screen, and the right to do so is limited to a Committee in Cyprus.
3. Sat 7 insisted that the overwhelming majority of the programmes and employees are to be Protestant, and officials rejected the modest and accepted percentage that at least 50% of everything should be Orthodox should. They also rejected programmes on the stories of the lives of the saints of the Church.
4. Officials' failure to comply with Sat 7 to implement the regulations of the Consultative Council in Egypt, despite the caution and urgency of the Coptic Church.

That is why the Holy Synod approved the proposal of the Faith, Education and Legislative Committee that:

1. The Coptic Church withdraws from this channel, whether the International Council or the Cairo office.
2. Remove the name of the Shubra Al-Khaima Archdiocese from all publications, advertisements and programmes related to Sat 7.
3. The Sat 7 office should be moved from the service building of the Shubra El-Khaima Archdiocese to another location, outside the Coptic Church, as soon as possible.
4. The warning to the children of the Coptic Orthodox Church is that this channel is Protestant, not ecumenical.

While we regret this result, we feel that we were forced to do this because the officials of this channel have not yet responded to our legitimate requests, despite the constant insistence on the need to correct the terms of engagement, so that the Coptic Church will have its part and leading role in producing and following the programmes of this channel.

In the meeting on 02/06/2001

The Holy Synod was informed that the Faith, Education and Legislative Committee had examined the latest developments in negotiations between the Church and officials of the Sat 7 channel, which is the establishment of the Sat 7 office of the Coptic Orthodox branch, where it produces suitable materials for display on this channel. The channel’s board of directors will contribute to the production financing. The matter is still being studied, under the supervision of His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, to assess its positive and negative aspects. The Holy Synod agreed.

In the meeting on 26/05/2007

The Holy Synod accepted the Committee’s recommendation to allow Sat 7 to record in our Coptic Orthodox Churches; except for official ecumenical meetings organised by the Middle East Council of Churches.