SSCN Voumes 1-10, 1994-2004

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter

Six resolutions/recommendations were discussed and put to vote by members of the St. Mark Foundation, the St. Shenouda Society and the participants of the Symposium. They were as follows: 1. "To extend our heartfelt gratitude to H.H. Pope Shenouda III for approving this momentous meeting and for his constant encouragement of all our endeavors." This resolution received unanimous approval. 2. "To extend our heartfelt thanks to H.G. Anba Abraam who so generously hosted the conference in the monastery of (Deir) al- Azab, who graciously received us, who attended many of the presentations, and whose staff did a superlative job, made us comfortable, and saw to our slightest need." This resolution also received unanimous approval. 3. "To request the authorities of the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York to authorize the republication of the facsimile edition of the Library of the Archangel Michael monastery at Hamuli, either in print or in digitized form." This resolution was revised slightly to accommodate Dr. van der Vliet comments before it was approved. The resolution came about as a result of Bishop Abraam's earlier call, during the Opening Ceremony, for establishing a Center for Documents from al-Fayoum. 4. "To encourage and support all monasteries and churches to preserve and catalog ancient manuscripts and make them available to the Coptic Library, the Alexandria Library, and to all scholars worldwide in digital format." No one of course objected to such a recommendation. The reference to the Coptic Library is directed toward the new General Library of the Coptic Church, that the Pope has entrusted the Foundation with its development.

5. "When we saw the results of the restoration of the wall paintings in the Red monastery by the American Research Center (in Egypt) [ARCE] under the direction of Prof. Elizabeth Bolman, we urge the Center to complete this unique undertaking as soon as possible and we hope that they obtain the support of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA)." This resolution came about because of a group from the University of Rome was pushing to do work on the courtyard of the Red Monastery, for the purpose of erecting the original columns of the church in their original place. For whatever reason or motivation, they are coming in conflict with the Italian restoration team that is working under the direction of ARCE inside the church. Logically there should not be a conflict, but this is Egypt and the situation has escalated to a confrontation that is impeding the restoration work. The White and Red Monastery Consortium met during the Symposium and agreed that all steps should be taken, with the assistance of H.G. Bishop Youannis, the head of both monasteries, to enlist the help of SCA and keep ARCE's interest in the project. According to Prof. Bently Layton of Yale University, these monasteries represent the oldest surviving monuments of monasticism worldwide. Prof. Bolman has been in the forefront of this struggle and we all wish the project and her success. 6. "The marvelous results of the work in the restoration campaign in the Red monastery, in addition to the significance of this region, inspired us to start planning our third Symposium on Monasticism in Sohag and Southern Upper Egypt, to be held in February 2006." This resolution aimed also to underscore the members' valuation of the work being done there and now being in jeopardy as seen above. The chairman, Prof. Emmel of course was the first to recommend

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter

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