Hi:
Seems like this is still a problem among Egyptian believers which is a very dangerous practice in females and not scriptural whatsoever. I have been asked by an investigator of the Orthodox faith if the Coptic Orthodox Church bans from holy communion or even excommunicates parents who have been found to circumsided their little girls. As I have no clue I couldn't obviously answer to that question.
If you could answer that to me and direct me to doctrinal sources or statements I would appreciate.
Thanks
(Edited by Salpy to correct spelling in the title.)
Divinus:
While I do not live in Egypt, and don't personally have current information regarding the state of this practice, a few observations might shed some light:
1) Public Excommunication, that is essentially the expulsion of a person from the body of the Church, is rarely done anywhere among the Orthodox except in cases of those who teach heresy and refuse to stop when corrected, or engage in schismatic acts. Roman Catholics have many laws, which if broken incur excommunication automatically, but even they rarely publicly excommunicate anyone.
2) As has been stated, the Church forbids this practice among the faithful. Those who have been told to stop and insist on continuing are guilty of sin. As is the case of any serious sin, repentance and confession are required in order to receive Holy Communion.
3) There is no doctrine involved here. It is a pastoral problem, caused by the extreme isolation of the people and the unfortunate influence of movements like Islam and African pagan cults. It is not to be fought with pronouncements and sanctions, but by the diligent labor of properly instructed Priests educating their people.
4) While the practice is vile, and has attracted much attention among westerners who like to feel morally superior, it is certainly no worse than sins like murder, defrauding the poor, abortion, and other evils which are individual sins dealt with individually.
Hope this helps...