Pope Shenouda III, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the Saint Mark Episcopate, approved the decisions made by the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church that pertain to the Faith, Education and Legislation Committees. In its last meeting, the Holy Synod made recommendations to resist Protestant penetration in the Orthodox Church. It banned closed meetings in churches and homes without prior permission from the respective bishop, so as to curb the dissemination of Protestantism among Copts. Also, the Coptic Church has started an official theological dialogue with the Catholic Church to address the points of difference between them. It also canceled the medical examination that precedes marriage, after it received many complaints from it. The Pope also confiscated a book titled 'God Calls' for its ideological deviations. It was published by Madar Al-Ahad Press, and has been on display in the bookstores for 10 years. A bookstore says the Pope should not be concerned, as the book does not talk about the Christian faith, but merely presents the author's personal reflections. "The book adopts Father Matta Al-Miskin's ideas, which contradict those of Pope Shenouda. And after the rapprochement between the Pope and the monks of Miskin's monastery, the church started withdrawing all similar books. Proof is that the monastery did not commemorate Miskin's third anniversary, unlike in the past two years," he said.
Meanwhile, security services stepped up in an effort to contain sectarian clashes in Beni Suef between Muslims and Christians. Beba and Fashn Village Archbishop Astaphanos and his priests held a vigil yesterday in front of the Virgin Mary Church, demanding the release of the Copts that were arrested following the violent events that took place when the Copts of the village converted a house belonging to a priest into a church. Pastor Royce Rizk, the secretary of the Archbishopric, said the Muslims of the village have assaulted Rev. Isaac Kotour, the village priest, and smashed his car in front of the security services. He said the police then beat the Copts and the Muslims and arrested them. Rizk claims that the security services want to deport Rev. Nestor from the village because he has a church on the second floor of his house for the Christians to pray. Rev. Isaac Kotour said the village people pelted the house with stones and destroyed two acres belonging to Copts.
