The Coptic Orthodox Church said that Pope Shenouda III, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the Saint Mark Episcopate, is in good health. On another note, the European Union of Coptic Organizations will hold its first congress in Austria on July 10. The church said in a statement issued by the papal office that the Pope's trip to the United States next Saturday is part of his therapeutic follow-up program.
The statement stressed that Pope Shenouda is in perfect health, and that he is only going for a normal check-up and to do some tests and X-rays. In another context, the European Union of Coptic Organizations will hold its first congress on July 10 and 11 at the Political Academy in the Austrian capital of Vienna under the title ‘Human Rights and Minorities in the Middle East: A Future Vision for the Restoration of the Rights of the Copts in Light of Global Political Changes'. The Union sent an open invitation to all human rights organizations in Europe and America, and to all writers, activists and journalists. In a statement issued yesterday, the Union said the conference coincides with the continuous violation patterns of the rights of the Copts, their persecution in Egypt, and the attempts by individuals, groups, officials and non-officials to limit the work of the defenders of the Coptic issue.
