More recently, Pope Shenouda III underwent spinal surgery at Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, on 22 October 2006.<sup>[http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/10-24-2006/0004458455&EDATE=]</sup> Pope Shenouda III has since then fully recovered, and celebrated the 35th anniversary of His Holiness' enthronement as Pope of Alexandria on 14 November 2006 in Egypt, among thousands of faithful who flocked to congratulate His Holiness on this occasion ([http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arbible/message/35800 videos]).
==Theological disputes and the 2007 Coptic Church crisis==
These have recently come to the attention of the mainstream secular newsmedia in Egypt (see, for example, [http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=5787] - [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OrthodoxNews/message/7104 mirror]). Pope Shenouda III is said to be totally denying the Orthodox concept and doctrine of [[theosis]] (even the word/term), teaching instead '[[Scholastic Theology]]' doctrines (esp. in relation to [[Original Sin|original sin]], redemption and [[salvation]]), and repeating arguments previously attributed verbatim to [[Nestorius]] (in relation to the [[Eucharist]], and that 'Divinity' cannot be born of the [[Virgin Mary]]), as well as adopting some [[Arius|Arian]] thoughts (claiming that Christ's glory mentioned in John 16 and 17 is not the same as God's divine glory, but mere human/priesthood glory),<sup>[http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arbible/message/39778]</sup> and [[Sabellianism|Sabellian]]/unitarian thinking (that the trinity are mere aspects, not distinct persons). ([http://orthodoxwiki.org/The_One_Will_and_the_One_Act Some of Pope Shenouda's writings] also show hints of [[monothelitism]].) These teachings are said to be in conflict with the teachings of the Fathers, esp. [[Cyril of Alexandria|Cyril the Great]] and [[Athanasius of Alexandria]]. Pope Shenouda is also said to have recently questioned the teachings of those Fathers, their importance in shaping Orthodox doctrine, and the reliability of the currently available translations from Greek of their writings. Books like ''Achieving Your Potential in Christ: Theosis - Plain Talks on a Major Doctrine of Orthodoxy'' by the Very Rev. Fr. Anthony M. Coniaris (Edited by D. A. Riewe) would thus be against Pope Shenouda's teachings. Pope Shenouda's longstanding theological disputes with Habib Bebawi, PhD (Cambridge), a renowned Coptic theologian specialising in patristic studies,<sup>[http://coptology.com/ Web site]</sup> and the late Father [[Matta El-Meskeen]] are well known, and many observers have attributed them to personal and ecclesiastico-political motives, rather than to any genuine doctrinal flaws or deviations from Orthodoxy in the writings of Bebawi and Matta.
See also the 2007 conflict of the Coptic Church with the Catholic and Protestant Churches in Egypt: [[Bishoy_%28Nicola%29_of_Damietta#A_.22controversial.22_figure]].
==Main sources==
