Pope Resumes Daily Appointments

Today the Pope welcomed five Coptic-rite bishops of the Egyptian episcopal conference who are making their fiveyearly visit to the Holy See. Over the next few days, he plans to receive other Egyptian bishops.

This was the third consecutive appointment kept by the Pope in recent days, following Saturday's special audience attended by young people, and Sunday's Angelus.

John Paul II has been in Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, since July 10. He will visit Slovakia from Sept. 11-14.

An audience scheduled for Tuesday with Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas was postponed after last week's bus attack in Jerusalem.