Death of Coptic pope mourned by thousands
EGYPT: As bells tolled, tearful Christians have crowded past the Cairo cathedral’s gate hours after Pope Shenouda III’S death, to get a glimpse of the man they called ‘‘father’’.
Within an hour of the announcement of his death, traffic was jammed for kilometres leading to St Mark’s Cathedral, where the pope was based.
The leader of the Middle East’s largest Christian minority died aged 88, after battling health problems for years.
He had recently stopped receiving treatment for liver failure and tumours or swelling in his lungs because he was too feeble, the Coptic Church said.
The Copts, who are increasingly tight-knit in the face of assertive Islamists in an uncertain time for the Egyptian minority, displayed the crosses many have had tattooed on their wrists to get inside the church grounds and to the steps of Shenouda’s offices, where they were told the pope’s body lay in readiness for the funeral.
‘‘We love you, Father,’’ they chanted, hoping for a final glimpse of the pontiff who had led their community since 1971.
‘‘The pope is wise, he was the father of every young man, woman, widows and the orphaned,’’ said Emil Essam, 28, his eyes red from sobbing.
‘‘We have had many crises, and he gave us wisdom throughout all of them.
‘‘He prayed for us throughout our oppression.’’
As Essam turned his back to Shenouda’s offices to face east to pray, the men and women chanted a mournful hymn in the ancient Coptic language and in Arabic.
‘‘They’re saying: ‘God please save us, oh Jesus,’’ said Isaac Zakaria, an 18-year-old university student.
‘‘He was like my father. He was wise, and very open-minded. There will be no-one like him in the future.’’
Outside, policemen stood guard with sniffer dogs to detect explosives, a reminder of the dangers faced by the ever more beleaguered Christians in the Muslim-dominated country.