Abuna Paulos also found success after he asked a British Museum to return ten "tabots" containing images of the Ark of the covenant. These carvings, supposedly so sacred that only ordained priests may look at them, were taken by British troops in 1868 during the rescue of the hostages imprisoned by the Emperor Tewdros. In March 2006, Abune Paulos was elected to serve as one of the seven presidents of the World Council of Churches, during its summit in Brazil. On 13 July 2007, Abune Paulos visited the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria in Egypt, met with Pope Shenouda III of Egypt. This visit re-established the relationship between the Ethiopian and Coptic Church after time of separation. Abune Paulos visited some of the Coptic associations in Egypt, and on 15 July, he visited a Coptic Egyptian Church named after an Ethiopian Saint Tekle Haymanot Coptic Orthodox Church in Alexandria, Egypt.