For the first time in Egyptian history, a Christian Copt Adel Abadir Youssef declared his intention to stand in the upcoming 2005 presidential elections. Mr. Youssef stated that his decision to run was driven by his desire to consolidate the principle of equality among Egyptian citizens regardless of the religious domination. Following Mr. Youssef's declaration, sadly his Holiness Pope Shenouda III described his move as a "joke", giving little consideration to the importance of the symbolic value of this candidacy to the supreme executive post.

Despite the fact that the Egyptian constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, religion or sex, there exists a wide disparity between constitutional guarantees and reality, for in fact Egyptian Copts?who constitute a significant minority in Egyptian society? suffer from systemic individual and institutional discrimination that is tolerated by the government. This situation makes second-class citizens of Copts who are not adequately represented in decision-making bodies and the military, and are practically barred from the intelligence service since they are deemed a security risk.
For decades Coptic demands to abolish the Hamayounic Decree, which imposes stringent constraints on the building and repair of churches; to reform the educational curriculum to include sections on Egypt's 600-year Coptic era; and to fight intolerance against the Copts in the public media have gone unheeded.