Pope Shenudah is undergoing physical therapy in the US after spine surgery, reports Nader Habib The head of Egypt's Coptic Church underwent an operation on the spine at Cleveland Clinic, Ohio on 22 October and is now able to walk normally. Bishop Armia, who is travelling with Pope Shenudah, said in an official statement that the pope is recovering well from the operation. The pope is also receiving guests and writing for international and Arab newspapers, according Bishop Armia. Bishop Morkos, the spokesman of the Coptic Church, said that the results of Pope Shenudah's kidney tests were excellent and that the pope was making a speedy recovery. President Hosni Mubarak spoke to the pope by telephone following the operation to wish him well. Pope Shenudah is due back in Cairo on 10 November, in time to celebrate the 35th anniversary of his accession to the papacy. The anniversary will be celebrated at the St Morkos Cathedral in Abbasiya on 14 November. But the church is not resting easy these days because of a conference organised by secularists on the same day on reforming the Church. According to Osama Ahmed of the Nahdet Misr newspaper, the conference sponsored by a group of Orthodox researchers, will focus on several issues, including the relation between the secularists and the clergy, as well as financial transparency. Bishop Morkos said that the organisers should have invited the church to participate in order to give its point of view. Also, "any talk about reviewing the relation between the secularists and the Church is nonsense because already church activities are being run by secularists and Church councils in Egypt are also dominated by secularists," he explained. Expressing similar sentiments, Bishop Basanti of Helwan and Maasara wondered if the organisers were qualified to pass judgement on such matters. "Pope Shenudah is the head of the church and must be consulted on such matters," Bishop Basanti asserted. "Should the conference be held without the Pope's permission, the Church would not heed recommendations." The Pope's trip to the US renewed the debate on succession within the Church. Al-Usbu newspaper reported that the successor is likely to be one of three: Bishop Bishoi, the synod's secretary, who is known to be a strict disciplinarian; Bishop Musa, the bishop of youth, who is close to both the government and the opposition; and Bishop Youannis, who is thought to be the US favourite.
