Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

Pope Shenouda III, pope of Alexandria and head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, has begun an investigation into Bishop Bula and Father Royce Aweidah, Chariman and Secretary of the Clerical Council respectively, about what happened during the Coptic sit-in on Monday.

The January 25 revolution has highlighted many controversial issues, one of which being second marriage for Copts – around 3,000 Copts have been protesting about this topic.

However, with the refusal of Pope Shenouda III, Patriarch of Alexandria and Head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, angry demonstrators have moved to protest at the office of Anbā Bola in 'Abbāssīyah.

After sit-ins by hundreds of protesters at St. Mark Cathedral in 'Abbāssīyah, Bishop Bīsantī

of Helwan has said that the matter of civil marriage lies in the hands of Pope Shenouda III, Pope of Alexandria and head of the Coptic Orthodox church.

A church source has claimed that Pope Shenouda III, pope of Alexandria and head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, has told Bishop Bola, chairman of the Clerical Council, to put an end to the Council's bureaucracy so the investigation of complaints against him can continue. The pope commissioned a legal team to follow up on the “Two Saints” incident and submit a report on its latest developments. Some protesters are demanding Bishop Bola's removal from the Clerical Council.

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[Reviewer's note: a similar story was covered in al-Ahrām, July 27, 2011, p.8.]

Najīb Jabrā’īl, a Coptic lawyer and the head of the Egyptian Federation for Human Rights and Pope Shenouda III, head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, met on Wednesday morning to discuss the deteriorating situation of the Clerical Council, and the increasing number of cases it is receiving – in its last session, it saw 7500 cases.

Many articles were published in

Watani, al-Ahram and al-Usboa in memoriam to Bishop Gregorios, the

General Bishop of Theological Post Graduate

Studies, Coptic Culture and Scientific Research, who passed

away last week. All the articles in the first two

papers concentrated on the personal characteristics of

the late bishop. al-Usboa shed light on an old interview

with the bishop in which he spoke about the

relationship between the Egyptian church and the authorities and about

the reality of the confinement of

Pope Shenouda in Anbā Bishoy monastery.

Father Mattá al-

Miskīn is attacked by many conservative figures of the Coptic

Orthodox Church. The text highlights some of

the father’s liberal ideology concerning traditions of the

Church.

An international festival for Coptic music and melodies, entitled "The Eternal Nile" was held in Paris. It was organized jointly by the Coptic Association in France and the Syndicate du Personnel de l’ UNESCO."

Copts living in the Manshiyat Abdel Mona’am Riyad district in Shoubra Al-Kheima are dissatisfied as the police prevented the building of a staircase in the Anba Bula Church despite the fact that a presidential restoration decree had been issued.

The Coptic residents of one of Egypt´s new towns filed an application to the Minister of Housing for the allocation of land to build a church because there is no church in their town that includes six mosques. The Minister agreed and they started the procedure to obtain a permit. Then a mosque was built on a piece of land that was next to that allocated for the church. Security authorities halted the procedure of obtaining the permit, as it is not permissible to build a church next to a mosque.