DAMASCUS, Syria, Mar 08, 2002 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- The Egyptian Coptic pontiff said dialogue on differences in doctrine and faith is not needed, but said talks on joint-ethical issues are necessary. Pope Shenouda III's remarks came Friday at the end of the first session of the fifth annual meeting of the three eastern Orthodox churches - Coptic, Armenian and Syrian, also known as Syriac.
The meeting, headed by Shenouda, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Zaka Iwas I and the Armenian Orthodox patriarch, Catholicos Aram I, is being held to study the situations of their followers and their relations with other churches.
"Religious dialogue doesn't mean a dialogue on faith and doctrine," Shenouda told The Associated Press. "In Egypt, we (Muslims and Christians) cooperate naturally without going into a dialogue (on faith)."
Shenouda often appears with chief Muslim clerics in Egypt to promote good relations between Muslims and Christians, who generally live in peace in Egypt despite occasional outbreaks of violence. Copts account for approximately 10 percent of Egypt's population, which numbers almost 68 million.
Iwas, of the Syriac church, believed religious dialogue "is not preaching nor is it inviting somebody to change his religion. It is creating deep understanding of one religion to the other."
Asked about the situation in the Palestinian occupied territories, Shenouda said, "I regret what's going on there. I especially regret that the Arabs haven't done anything effective or positive to stop the bloodletting in the holy lands (of Palestine)."
Shenouda defended his ban on Copts from visiting Israel, saying such "visits provide Israel with a useful economic climate and help its propaganda."
"It's inconvenient to visit the holy lands while under occupation because it is considered as a tone of normalizing relations with Israel," he added.
Egyptian-Israeli relations remain cold 21 years after they signed a peace accord. Some cooperation exists between the two governments, but business links and Egyptian-Israeli trade remain minimal and cultural ties are virtually nonexistent.