Leader of Egypt's Coptic Church Pope Shenouda III returned to Cairo on Monday after a month-long visit to the U.S. undertaken for medical reasons.During the trip -- his sixth to the U.S. this year -- Shenouda underwent a number of medical examinations at Cleveland Hospital in the state of Ohio.
Over the course of the visit, the Coptic pope visited a number of churches, meeting with priests and bishops from various American Christian denominations. He also met with leaders of the expatriate Coptic community.
Pope Shenouda was initially flown to the U.S. on a private jet owned by Coptic Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris. He was accompanied by six Coptic Church officials including his private secretary, Anba Yoannis.
Upon Shenouda's return to Egypt on Monday morning, he was met by some 1,000 well-wishers at Cairo's Abbaseyya Cathedral, who cheered his arrival while the church chorus played Egypt's national anthem.
Eager to kiss the pope's hands, some devotees engaged in limited clashes with guards who attempted to shield the elderly Shenouda from the crowd as he entered the papal residence.
Coptic Archbishop Salib Matta Sawiris was among the first to receive the pope, who is expected to resume his ecclesiastic duties at a scheduled sermon next Wednesday at the cathedral.
In a related development, Egypt's Coptic Church just launched its 12th annual conference at the Anba Abraam Monastery in the Middle Egyptian province of Fayyoum.
The conference is expected to be attended by high-ranking church officials including Anba Abraam, Anba Moussa and Anba Rafael.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
SIC: AA