Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II said that the Church is a spiritual organization and it wants to remain as such, the rumors about the Church encouraging protest are untrue, and the Church does not influence political opinion. These remarks came after meeting with the U.S. Ambassador to Egypt, Anne Patterson, the day before yesterday (June 17), and ahead of a meeting with President Muhammad Mursi (Mursī) at the Presidential Palace on Tuesday (June 18). Pope Tawadros expressed his disappointment with Mursi's governance, adding that the attacks on the Church during his administration are a stain on the country's history. He stressed that Egyptians have the freedom to express themselves on June 30. Pope Tawadros said a solution must be found to the Ethopia Renaissance Dam crisis but the Church is keen not to intervene in the issue (Yūsuf Sha'bān, Peter Majdī and Ibrāhīm Mūsá, al-Tahrīr, Jun. 19, p. 7). Read original text in Arabic.