Pope Shenouda urged Copts to halt their current protests in front of the Maspero. However, he seemed to backtrack after meeting with senior members of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. This was interpreted differently among Christians. Some felt the Pope is fast losing influence among Copts. Others believed that the Pope was reneging on his admonition to Copts to stop meddling in politics. He himself has refrained from deviating from non-religious matters in public. The controversy today revolves around whether or not the Church could or should play a key role in nurturing the nascent democracy in Egypt. However, the majority of Copts just want to be seen as ordinary Egyptian citizens with full citizenship rights.