During its latest meeting in Beirut, the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) issued an official letter calling on church leaders to back the candidacy of Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenouda III for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. The meeting was also attended by Bishop Bishoy, secretary of the Holy Synod, and Bishop Mark, chairman of the media committee. The Council urged church leaders to recommend their faithful abroad to back this candidacy, which it described as a source of pride for Christians all over the world. MECC Secretary General Guirguis Saleh said the Council had issued this letter based on a request by the Swedish Coptic Church to take part in a campaign to field the Pope as candidate for the Nobel Prize. The Swedish Copts organization issued a statement announcing that the goal for 2009 would be to field Pope Shenouda as candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. It also affirmed that it would work side by side with the Egyptian Church to achieve this objective. The organization Secretary General, Sameh Sami, said consultations are underway with a committee made up of five Egyptian bishops to make sure that these efforts are coordinated and successful. "We have sent letters to the World Council of Churches and we've received lot of support. We've also invited the universities which have honored the Pope in the past and they've accepted to take part in the campaign" he added. "We've also sent an official letter to the Egyptian Embassy in Sweden asking it to officially take part in the campaign and it promised to do so" he finally said.
