ON A cold December evening, on the side of a desert cliff high above the minarets and high-rises of Cairo, 3,000 voices sing out in praise of Jesus.
"I can't wait to see Him on judgment day," they repeat from words projected on to a huge screen above the stage where a 20-member choir and five-piece band belt out the tunes.
Like many other Coptic churches in this predominantly Muslim country, the Church of St Mary and St Samaan, built in an enormous amphitheatre-shaped cave in the cliffs of the Muqattam hills to the east of Cairo, has an ever-growing number of adherents - a reaction, some say, to the discrimination they face in a country where creeping Islamisation has isolated many of them from their fellow countrymen.
"There is a problem of the spirit among ordinary people," explained the spiritual leader of the Copts, Pope Shenouda III. "The [Islamist] fanatics have two kinds of work: aggression and violence, and creating a bad spirit in this country."
At its most extreme this "bad spirit" has led to the killing of Christians by Muslims; more commonly it has meant officialdom turning a blind eye to the erosion of Copts' religious freedom.
The Egyptian church is almost as old as Christianity itself. St Mark was reputed to have come to Egypt in the 5th decade after Christ's death and founded a community outside the northern city of Alexandria. Since then, Egyptian Christians have survived persecution first by pagans, then by their fellow Christians and then, occasionally, by Muslims.
Following the Muslim invasion of Egypt in AD641, the Copts remained a majority for a considerable time but slowly declined in number and influence. Currently, according to official figures they make up about 6 per cent of Egypt's population of 60 million, although this is challenged by many Copts, who insist there are almost twice that number.
As a minority in modern Egypt, the Copts are in a peculiar position. They speak the same language as their Muslim compatriots, look the same, live in the same areas and can be found in all walks of life.
"They are an integral part of the culture of Egypt," said Milad Hanna, a prominent columnist and head of the Coptic Society, a local non-governmental organisation. "They feel that they are the true descendants of the pharaohs ... Many people say the Egyptians accepted the Christian Trinity cause of the very first trinity: Osiris, Isis and Horus."
Perhaps because of this, discussing the Copts as a minority is controversial. In the late spring of 1994, a conference on minorities in the Middle East was due to be held in Cairo and the issue of Copts of Egypt was included on the agenda.
The prominent Egyptian writer and political analyst, Dr Mohammed Hassanein Heikal, attacked the inclusion of Copts, denying that they were a minority. The Copts are "part of Egypt's unbreakable fabric", he wrote in a widely read article.
The resulting press debate largely supported Dr Heikal's views, and even Pope Shenouda agreed, saying that Copts were "part and parcel of the Egyptian nation".
But for an integral part of the nation, Copts face pervasive discrimination. Although well represented in the professions, they are granted little political power. In the last elections, not one of the governing National Democratic Party's 444 candidates was a Copt. None of Egypt's 26 provincial governors is a Copt, and there are only 10 Coptic chairmen of some 3,600 public sector companies.
"We wouldn't mind if the numbers were even in line with what they claim is the proportion of Copts to Muslims in Egypt, but they don't even make the pretence," said Mr Moris Sadiq, a lawyer and head of a human rights group that focuses on Coptic issues.
Away from politics, there are persistent allegations of forced conversion to Islam, especially among young women. And earlier this month, Amnesty International accused the police of torturing a Muslim man who had converted to Christianity.
Further evidence of discrimination is the existence of a law requiring a presidential decree for the building or modification of churches.
Copts and Muslims are divided about the best way to address such problems. Activists such as Moris Sadiq want Copts to be treated as a minority, with the protection this would entail.
Others say the Copts should not be given special treatment. "This matter should be discussed on a secular basis," said Milad Hanna. "We must work through Coptic and Muslim laymen and through the judiciary to fight the laws and the intolerance."
Meanwhile, the church congregations are growing and monasteries are overflowing. Pope Shenouda, who this month celebrates 25 years as the head of the "Mother Church of Africa", claims that this began before the rise of fundamentalist Islam and puts the swelling ranks down to a dynamic Sunday school movement and the establishment of new theological colleges.
Nevertheless, he admits that times are not easy for Egypt's Copts. "We must try to solve our problems through love and good relations," he told reporters in a recent interview. "Christianity without the cross is not Christianity."
Reuter adds: President Hosni Mubarak's wife said in an interview yesterday that she was willing to play a personal role in a campaign to combat female circumcision in Egypt.
"There is in Egypt today an awareness campaign to put an end to this practice. . . I am determined to go to rural areas to take part in this campaign," Ms Suzanne Mubarak told the Arabic language daily Al-Hayat.
The health ministry earlier this year banned the practice of female circumcision in public hospitals. The clitoris and sometimes the labia are removed in the procedure, a common practice in Africa.
According to the health ministry, the practice dates back thousands of years in Egypt and daughters of 98 per cent of rural families and 70 per cent of urban families undergo the operation. It has caused the death by bleeding of many girls.
A study published in August by a government daily, following the death of a 14-year-old girl during a circumcision, showed 37 per cent of Egyptians support the ban while 32 are opposed to it.
"It is a very sensitive issue and dealing with it needs precision, patience and time," Mrs Mubarak said.
The Egyptian Organisation of Human Rights has estimated that nearly 3,600 girls, both Muslims and Copts, undergo excisions each day in Egypt.