Pope Shenouda III, head of the Orthodox Church, is looking into the demands of the protests calling for the approval of divorce and second marriages that took place in front of the Clerical Council at Saint Mark’s Cathedral in Abbassiya last week, according to the Middle East News Agency, Egypt's offical news agency.

Pope Shenouda III has met with council chief Bishop Paul, who saw Coptic groups demonstrating against him last week, demanding his removal.

The Pope has asked Bishop Paul and other council officials to calm demonstrators down, study their cases and explain why their requests had been denied.

Several Copts protested in the early weeks of July, demanding a civil marriage law that would allow them to divorce and remarry. Several protests followed, demanding that the church accept their requests regardless of civil marriage law considerations.