The Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Father Paulos, will visit Egypt in November for the celebration of Pope Shenouda III's 40th anniversary in the chair of Saint Mark the Apostle, according to Bishop Bishoy, Secretary-General of the Coptic Church. Bishop Bishoy, who was in Addis Ababa for meetings at the Committee of the World Council of Churches, said that the relationship between the two Churches is very strong. He pointed out that when His Holiness Pope Shenouda visited Addis Ababa in 2008, he received a warm welcome from the Ethiopian Church and the Ethiopian people. The visit followed the visit of Father Paulos with nine Ethiopian Bishops to Egypt He stressed that the relationship between the two Churches plays an important role in consolidating relations between the two countries and aims at every opportunity to emphasize the depth of historical ties between Egypt and Ethiopia. Bishoy added, “When we learned that the Prime Minister Essam Sharaf would visit Ethiopia, I spoke with a representative of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Rev. Siderak Bishoy, and asked him to inform Patriarch Paulos to speak with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi about visit of Sharaf.”