20.03.2012
Hundreds of clergy and officials packed St Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo on Tuesday for the funeral service of Pope Shenouda III, the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, who died aged 88 after a long battle with illness.
Shenouda’s body, dressed in robes and a gold crown, lay in an open coffin as Coptic hymns filled the huge cathedral in central Cairo, where thousands massed outside to pay their respects.
Shenouda’s body, dressed in robes and a gold crown, lay in an open coffin as Coptic hymns filled the huge cathedral in central Cairo, where thousands massed outside to pay their respects.
The funeral prayers were led by the patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Abuna Paulos, who flew in from Addis Ababa for the service.
“Because he is resting, does not mean we have lost him,” Abuna Paulos said.
Religious figures from several countries including a Catholic delegation from the Vatican and foreign ambassadors massed in the Orthodox Cathedral as long-bearded Coptic priests wearing bulbous black mitres prayed over Shenouda’s body lying in an open coffin, a golden mitre upon his head and a gold-tipped staff in his hand.
A delegation from the ruling military council and several candidates for Egypt’s upcoming presidential elections attended the funeral. Security was tight, with dozens of police and army trucks scattered around the cathedral and plainclothes police posted on bridges and in streets nearby.
Crowds waited outside, some all night, for a chance to attend the service, which officials had said would be by invitation only.
At one point, the gate to the cathedral compound was opened, causing a stampede into the courtyard, as church officials scrambled to closed the doors again.
A delegation from the ruling military council and several candidates for Egypt’s upcoming presidential elections attended the funeral. Security was tight, with dozens of police and army trucks scattered around the cathedral and plainclothes police posted on bridges and in streets nearby.
Crowds waited outside, some all night, for a chance to attend the service, which officials had said would be by invitation only.
At one point, the gate to the cathedral compound was opened, causing a stampede into the courtyard, as church officials scrambled to closed the doors again.
A day of national mourning was declared on Tuesday to mark the death of the leader of the Middle East’s largest Christian community.
No comments:
Post a Comment