Coptic Pope Dies in Egypt Amid Church’s Struggles

Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters

Egypt's Coptic Pope Shenouda III at an Easter service in Cairo last year.

By KAREEM FAHIM

Published: March 17, 2012

CAIRO — Pope Shenouda III, who led the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt for four decades, expanding the church’s presence around the world as he struggled, often unsuccessfully, to protect his Christian minority at home, died on Saturday after a long illness, state media reported.

Pope Shenouda, who was 88, had suffered from cancer and kidney problems for years.

His death comes at a time of rising fears for Egypt’s 10 million Coptic Christians, who have felt increasingly vulnerable since the fall of President Hosni Mubarak and amid attacks on churches by hard-line Islamists and repression by Egypt’s security forces.

The rise to power of conservative Islamist parties has also raised concerns that Egyptian national identity is becoming more closely bound to Islam.

“It’s an injection of uncertainty for Copts at a time of transition in the country,” said Michael Wahid Hanna, a fellow at the Century Foundation. “Whether people were fond of him or not, this will cause anxiety.”

On Saturday night, hundreds of Coptic Christians gathered at Cairo’s main cathedral to grieve.

Samir Youssef, a physician, called the pope “an intellectual, a poet — strong, charismatic.”

“On a personal level, I’m worried about the future. I think there will be a conflict, the same chaos that followed the 25th of January,” he added, referring to the start of the uprising last year.

In a statement, President Obama praised Pope Shenouda as a beloved “advocate for tolerance and religious dialogue.” Egypt’s interim rulers, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, called on Egyptians to “come together in solidarity and be tolerant, to take Egypt toward security and stability.”

Pope Shenouda, who became patriarch in 1971, was known as a charismatic, conservative leader for Egypt’s Copts, who make up about 10 percent of the population in the majority Sunni nation.

He filled a leadership vacuum as Copts — along with most Egyptians — retreated from public life under authoritarian rule, and he expanded the church’s reach, especially in North America. At the same time, he was criticized for what were seen as his autocratic tendencies, which stifled internal church changes, and his support for Mr. Mubarak’s government, given in return for a measure of protection that Copts increasingly felt was insignificant.

The failure to distance the church from Mr. Mubarak led to greater disillusionment with the pope after the revolution, especially among younger and more secular Copts.

Pope Shenouda was born on Aug. 3, 1923, as Nazeer Gayed in the city of Asyut, Egypt, according to a biography of the patriarch posted on the church’s Web site. He attended Cairo University and became a monk in 1954.

In 1981, Pope Shenouda was sent into internal exile by President Anwar Sadat, with whom he clashed after complaining about discrimination against the Copts. Mr. Mubarak ended that exile in 1985, with an informal understanding that Pope Shenouda would be less vocal in pointing out discrimination, according to Mariz Tadros, a researcher at the University of Sussex and the author of a forthcoming book on the Copts.

That understanding was severely strained in the past decade after a series of deadly clashes between Copts and Muslims, and charges that the state, and especially its security services, stoked the sectarian divide. After 21 people were killed in a church bombing last year, some Copts criticized the pope for not confronting the government.

The Coptic Church’s own policies, including its almost total ban on divorce, have also increased tensions. Some have left the church specifically to divorce, either choosing another denomination or officially converting to Islam, then sometimes converting back after the split. 

The conversions have incited rumors that have led to episodes of Muslim-Christian violence.

The next pope will face a growing desire among many Copts to expand the community’s leadership, analysts said.  Under Pope Shenouda, “the church became the de facto political representative of the Copts,” Mr. Hanna said. “That became increasingly problematic. 

Mayy El Sheikh contributed reporting.

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