Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II received yesterday, January 13, the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy of Belgium.  Mr. van Rompuy’s two-day visit to Egypt includes meetings with President Muhammad Mursī and the Grand Shaykh of the Azhar, Dr. Ahmad al-Tayyīb. A church source stated that the visit of Mr. Van Rompuy to the Coptic Orthodox Pope is a friendly approach and has no political agendas.

In another context, Pope Tawadros II will lead a three-day seminar on monasticism which will start today in the Monastery of Wādī al-Natrūn.

On the other hand, a lawyer (name was not mentioned) filed a complaint against H.H. Pope Tawadros II accusing him of mobilizing Copts across Egypt, in coordinating with the opposition, to demonstrate on the second anniversary of the January 25 Revolution to topple the regime and destabilize the country.

The complaint filed under no. 90 accuses the Church of launching the so-called Zionist-American plot by spreading chaos and inciting sedition in Egypt’s national unity, according to the prosecutor. [Muhammad Faraj, Ramadān Ahmad, and Mīrā Mamdūh, Rose al-Yūsuf, Jan. 14, p. 3] Read original text in Arabic