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Father Matta and Pope Shenouda share some common history. Both participated in the Sunday school movement and Matta was Shenouda's confessor in the 1950s. More recently, some misunderstandings between both leaders and their followers<sup>[http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arbible/message/30051]</sup> have surfaced, e.g., recent discussions on the concept of [[theosis]]<sup>[http://www.monachos.net/forum/showthread.php?p=22429],[http://orthodoxchristianity.net/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=32&topic=8933.msg119518#msg119518],[http://www.orthodoxchristianity.net/forum/index.php?topic=8362.0]</sup> and also the position Abouna Matta held on the [[Mark 16|sixteenth chapter of St. Mark's gospel]].
Father Matta was suspended twice, first by Pope Yousab II in 1955, and then again by Pope Kyrillos VI for nine years from 1960 to 1969<sup>[http://www.copticpope.org/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=154&page=6]</sup> for administrative/"political" (e.g., his book about the 'Church and the State') rather than for any truly theological or core dogmatic issues. Some say the 1960s suspension was because of Father Matta's objection to the Coptic Church signing of the Catholic Declaration of the Innocence of the Jews from the Blood of Christ.<sup>[http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arbible/message/31375]</sup>
== Early life ==
