Pope Shenouda III, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark's Church, has decided to reconsider the files of all the monks expelled from Bishop Maqar Monastery in the Natrun Valley. In an article published in El-Karaza magazine, the Pope scolded Abou Maqar Monastery monks for the large number of monks expelled from the monastery itself. He described them as "our blood and our brothers," stressing that he would not allow any monk to be expelled from the monastery without his permission. The Pope criticized the absence of icons from the monastery main church and said it looked like a hall more than a church. He then said icons are a characteristic element in the Orthodox Church, and ordered the formation of a geometric committee to increase the church dimensions and putting in the icons on the church and around the altar.
The Pope issued a decree appointing Bishop Timotheus as general bishop of Zagazig and Menya El-Qamh. He is due to succeed Bishop Yacobos, who passed away last November.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Bishop close to Pope Shenouda told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the Pope has recently asked bishops not to comment on the actions of Max Michel and not to give him the media publicity he wanted, especially after he announced the opening of "El-Raie El-Saleh" [The Good Shepherd] cultural TV channel. In contrast, several leading figures in the Evangelical Church welcomed the channel. Max Michel is the head of the so-called Synod of the Apostolic St. Athanasius. Dr. and Priest Akram Lamai, president of the media and publication committee at the Evangelical Church, said he would take part in that cultural channel. "This channel will be a voice to call for love and social peace with others."
Lamai disagreed with some people's hostility toward this channel simply because it has been set up by Max Michel. He also said that one could not generalize and that different opinions should not hinder any project serving the community and promoting social peace. For his part, Father Refaat Fikri, secretary of the Nile Evangelical Synod, welcomed the participation in the channel. "I have no problem in dealing with Maximus," he said.
