Source: BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4110861.stm
On December 20, 2004 the BBC News reported, "The top Coptic cleric has withdrawn to a desert monastery to draw attention to grievances among Egyptian Christians. Pope Shenouda III went into retreat at Anba Bishoy monastery in Wadi Natrun on 8 December, but his whereabouts were initially kept secret. Tensions flared during the last three weeks over fears that Christians were being forced to convert to Islam. At least 34 Copts were arrested during a demonstration in Cairo and sectarian violence also erupted in Upper Egypt. 'The seclusion of His Holiness the Pope will continue until he reaches a solution [with the government] that satisfies his conscience to the problems related to the Copts,' the pope's secretary Bishop Armia told Reuters news agency."