Tens of thousands
of Coptic Orthodox Christians descend on Egypt's main cathedral in Cairo to
begin a three-day mourning period for Pope Shenouda III.
The spiritual
leader of the Middle East's largest Christian minority died on Saturday at the
age of 88 after battling a long illness.
"He had his
opinions, he expressed. Don't forget that those are the same opinions that held
the Arab nations very high in place, the Palestinian issue, the Ramadan iftar
banquets and was also attacked for it at times for trying to be too
moderate."
-Bishop Angaelos,
the bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria
Pope Shenouda was
the patriarch of most of Egypt's estimated 12 million Christians.
His body is
displayed for public viewing inside the Abassiya Cathedral in Cairo.
On Tuesday a
funeral will be held for Shenouda, who became pope in 1971, at the papal
headquarters.
There was no
official word on when clergy and others would convene to begin the process of
choosing a successor, but a new pope should be chosen in a matter of two or
three months.
His successor will
play an important role in forging the church's position after the overthrow of
Hosni Mubarak, the former Egyptian president, last year.
Pope Shenouda led
the Coptic church for more than 40 years
He campaigned for
the rights of Egypt's Christian minority
Coptic Christians
make up about 10 per cent of Egypt's 80 million population
Copts now face
serious challenges; their dream of political inclusion has been made difficult
by a string of church burnings and sectarian violence in recent years.
"The young
Copts today do not want to be tied or to have their demands within the
precincts of the church... There is a new move among the youngsters who want to
be emancipated from the church although being very loyal but they do not want
to take any instructions anymore."
-Mona Makram-Ebeid,
a political science professor, the American University in Cairo
Pope Shenouda's
death comes at a time of rising unease for Coptic Christians, who have felt
increasingly vulnerable since the fall of Mubarak.
The heightened
visibility of Islamists has increased their feeling of marginalisation. The
Freedom and Justice party, part of the Muslim brotherhood, will be the biggest
party in Egypt's new parliament. The Salafist al-Nur party will have the second
largest number of seats.
While Egypt awaits
a new constitution to be drafted, Coptic Christians fear equal rights will not
be granted. The country's ruling supreme council of the armed forces has
pledged to hand over power to an elected civilian government in June.
So, what does the
pope's passing mean for Egypt's Coptic Christians? And what are the challenges
facing the Christian minority in a post-revolution Egypt?
Joining Inside
Story to discuss these issues with presenter Adrian Finighan are guests: Mona
Makram-Ebeid, the international secretary for the Social Democratic Party and a
political science professor at the American University in Cairo; Bishop
Angaelos, the bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria who was
consecrated by Pope Shenouda III; and Omar Ashour, a visiting scholar at the
Brookings Doha Center and the director of Middle East Studies at Exeter
University.
"Because of
the sensitivity of the period [in Egypt] and because of his absence, there will
be major rifts and changes within the community and within the Coptic church as
we will see in the coming few months."
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