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Khaled Desouki / AFP - Getty Images
A Coptic Christian mourns the death of Pope Shenouda III, the spiritual leader of the Middle East's largest Christian minority on March 18.
Khaled Desouki / AFP - Getty Images
An Egyptian Christian Copt mourns the death of Pope Shenouda III, spiritual leader of the Middle East's largest Christian minority, in Saint Mark Cathedral in Cairo.
Christians gathered on Sunday to pay final respects to Pope Shenouda III, who sought to soothe sectarian tension in his four decades atop Egypt's Orthodox Church but saw increasing flare-ups in the majority Muslim nation in the last months of his life.
Friction has worsened since President Hosni Mubarak, who suppressed Islamists, was ousted last year. Since then Shenouda, who died on Saturday aged 88, often called for harmony and regularly met Muslim and other leaders.
Christians, who comprise about a tenth of Egypt's 80 million people, have long complained of discrimination and in the past year stepped up protests, which included calls for new rules that would make it as easy to build a church as a mosque.
Shenouda had served as the 117th Pope of Alexandria since November 1971, leading the Orthodox community who make up most of Egypt's Christians. His funeral will be held on Tuesday, Egyptian state media reported.
-- Reuters contributed to this blog post
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Related links:
- Christians gather to bid farewell to Egypt's Pope
- Pope Shenouda, religious peacemaker and Mubarak ally
- Pope of Egypt's Coptic Christian Church dies
Esam Omran Al-Fetori / Reuters
Egyptian Christians gather to mourn the death of Pope Shenouda III, the head of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church, outside the Abbasiya Cathedral in Cairo on March 18.
Ammar Awad / Reuters
A Coptic Christian priest holds candles next to a picture of Egyptian Coptic Christian Pope Shenouda III in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City on March 18.
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ALL EGYPT WILL MISS YOU OUR DEAREST POPE. POPE SHENOUDA PLEASE REMEMBER ALL EGYPTIANS AND THE ENTIRE WORLD WHEN YOU STAND IN FRONT OF THE LORD.
THE WHOLE WORLD LOST A BRIGHT AND GREAT ICON IN EGYPT'S HISTORY
You left us only by body but you are still with us with your soul, great words and teachings.
Your great wisdom is something we should follow and learn from. Wisdom is something Egypt really needs in this hard time. Pray for the unity of Egypt and the coptics, pray for the church to stay strong forever.
the Coptic Catholic Church, was founded by one of the disciples of Jesus, their official language is still Armedia (sic); it was actually founded a few years before the Roman Catholic church; the Coptic's are the protectors of the Church of Jerusalem, Even Mohamed gave orders that their Monastery's must not be touched.
ALL EGYPT WILL MISS YOU OUR DEAREST POPE. POPE SHENOUDA PLEASE REMEMBER ALL EGYPTIANS AND THE ENTIRE WORLD WHEN YOU STAND IN FRONT OF THE LORD.
THE WHOLE WORLD LOST A BRIGHT AND GREAT ICON IN EGYPT'S HISTORY
You left us only by body but you are still with us with your soul, great words and teachings.
Your great wisdom is something we should follow and learn from. Wisdom is something Egypt really needs in this hard time. Pray for the unity of Egypt and the coptics, pray for the church to stay strong forever.
Estafanous, EW, I'm truly sorry for your loss. God Bless you.
Another Great man gone to Heaven......he did much good in his life. May he rest in Peace.
40 years fighting for peace. Good man.
The christians have an uphill fight now just to survive. 9 to 1 odds against the most violent religion ever.
Hi all, thank you for writing this article. I am coptic so I just wanted to point out that the man in the last photo, holding a candle is actually a deacon (epsaltos Rank) to be exact. You can tell by his vestment.
Hi thank you for this article.. I am coptic and wanted to point out some things. The man in the last picture is actually a deacon (Epsaltos rank to be exact), you can tell by his tunic vestment. In the first picture the man mourning is a bishop, he wears that headpiece, (all monks wear it). Our bishops are monks before they become bishops so they keep the same dress and add the big black bishops headpiece (crown), which the bishop standing next to the pope is wearing, sometimes bishops do not wear it so they can be confused to be monks..........sorry did not realize the comment was posted before. : l
Dear Friends:
My prayers to their loss and may peace be in the hearts of Egypt.
When Jesus was what age was He first taken to Egypt? Where did He go to? Would it be the same as Christianity spread around the world? How different is Egypts Christian religion than yours? Is it different?
Knowing that religion is a part of the USA history, our forefathers brought religion here and put it into the US Constitution to protect our Right to Religion and to celebrate religios ceremonies. Know that in this time who you vote for can impact the protection of our US Constitution and religion.
Is the process of a new Pope for Egypt the same as for the Roman Catholic Church?
Which Candidates are Catholic in the US election? Which faith are the others?
My condolences to all Egyptian christians.
Pope shanouda was the most peaceful person on earth, he received the peace prize, he loved every one and helped every one in need, please pray for us front of the lord Jesus Christ, heaven is very happy for you and your holy spirit. He is the saint of this century, god bless
There is NO reason each and every religion cannot exist and thrive anywhere. The ONLY way this can happen is for each and every religion to STAY out of government. IF a country IS run by a religion or religious leaders, then there is NO hope for freedom, justice, or peace. Let's hope the Egyptian people, and more so, the Egyptian politicians, those who have gained the freedom to rule, see this. If NOT, then Egypt will be another backward, midevil, repressive country and society, the repressive Mubarek replaced by the repressive Military, replaced by the repressive Muslim Brotherhood. Right now, there IS hope, but IF these people are not wise enough to see both history and the current world as it is or it coud be, there will be NO hopa and not much of a furture.
Religious tolerance is a wonderful thing. We should continue to practice religious tolerance and strive to become a peaceful world.
Thoughts and prayers to the Coptic Church and its people on the loss of this man of peace and love. May God grant you another such in your next Pope. May God receive the soul of Pope Shenouda III and grant his continuing prayers on behalf of his people and his country, Egypt.
It is a sad thing for me to see a great man of peace and of Christ leave this world as we know it. I thank you for your hard work serving the Lord. May your memory be eternal! I hope and pray for all Orthodox Christians in the Middle East and in the world and all Christians that live repression in this world. Peace be to all, and may God be with you!