Tens of thousands of Copts say goodbye to Pope who ‘safely guided ship’

18/3/2012
Mostafa Ali

Streams of grieving Egyptian Copts have started on Saturday to descend on country’s main cathedral in Cairo to start 3-day period of bidding beloved Shenouda III farewell, looking ahead to a stormy future.

The main cathedral for Egypt’s 12 million Copts in the Abbassiya district of Cairo had been taken over by thousands of mourning Christians by the early evening hours of Saturday.
A steady stream of groups of hundreds of new comers made its way to the Orthodox Cathedral from all four directions as the night progressed.

Women dressed in black, young men on motorcycles, families crowded in automobiles or coming out of the nearby underground metro station, and senior citizens leaning on canes or supported by grandchildren – all kept pouring towards the church hoping to be in the proximity of the body of Pope Shenouda III who had been pronounced dead at 5 PM earlier in the afternoon.

The crowds that swarmed in and around the church caused a massive traffic jam on all streets that surrounded the building where the 88-year-old used for decades to lead and console the nation’s Coptic community.

At the main entrance to the church on Ramsis street main TV stations interviewed mourners carrying the picture of the Pontiff. Police officers rearranged positions for metal barriers that were used to slow down, not to stop, the influx of people determined to bid the Pope Farewell dozens of times, but to no avail.

Some Muslim drivers who did not listen to the news on the radio all day discovered for the first time, as they drove at a snail’s pace past the never-ending crowds which overflowed on the asphalt, that Pope Shenouda III had passed away.

Despite all the signs of apparent chaos that engulfed the vicinity of the church, the mood was subdued, and an air of serenity strongly competed with the cold winds that kept other Egyptians in doors on this weekend evening.

Hundreds of blood-red eyes among the crowds revealed that millions of Copts had clearly poured their hearts out in tears for hours since the news of Shenouda’s death broke out earlier in the afternoon.

Ramon, a 20-year-old trade school student who sells shoes to pay for his education, stood quietly and pensively along with hundreds of young people, who also failed to make their way into the cathedral because of the crowd, on the sidewalk across from the entrance.

“I did not want to believe that he died. I asked two or three people hoping they say it was rumour. But, it was not.”

“I thought he was still in the United States receiving treatment and that he would come back soon and get well again.”

“But, I also realise that he is human, and that God has chosen this moment to lift him up to the sky so he can be close to Jesus,” Ramon figured.

In fact, millions of Copts had a good reason to believe that the Pope, despite progressively deteriorating health in recent years, would stand by them for at least some time to come.

After all, the 88-year-old had survived more than a dozen gruesome medical trips to the US in the last decade. He had always came back to the community which adored his regular Sunday mass and desperately filled the church every Wednesday night to share with him their stories of pain at his weekly public forums.

“He was a symbol for love and peace,” Sherif, a small-business entrepreneur told Ahram Online.

“We have lots of great Bishops, but none of them can really fill the shoes of our Pope,” a 50-something man, who planted himself near the main doors, made sure to inform everyone attempting to make their way into the church.

“Guys, my uncle who lives in the Netherlands just called me. He is devastated. He adored the Pope,” a teenager lamented loudly with schoolmates who were checking the internet on their mobile phones in search for the latest reactions on the Pontiff’s death.

Those who could not enter the church through the main gate circled the building to attempt a rush on the doors through a side entrance.

There, crowd of hundreds of young men raised their hands in the air to show the crosses tattooed on their Right wrists to two overwhelmed doormen.

“Please, proceed in order and display your tattoos clearly. If you do not have a cross on the wrist, prepare your national identification cards,” one of the guards who were carried on the shoulders of a volunteer yelled nonstop at the crowd that kept edging near.

The young men’s rush-attempt on the gate was only interrupted by the arrival of two ministry-of-electricity trucks carrying emergency power generators to supplement the near-breakdown, overwhelmed lighting matrix of a cathedral which is used to service thousands but not the tens of thousands of expected mourners.

Scores of young men, fearing that the growing size of the crowds would prevent them from seeing the Pope, jumped on top of the trucks in the hope that the guards, who they knew had to let the generators in to save the power system, would then have no choice but to let all those who adore Shenouda in as well.

Underneath all the love for Shenouda that was at display at the Cathedral on this Saturday evening, and had already manifested itself for years among Egyptian Copts, something more profound than simply respect from ordinary people to a priest seemed to lie.

In some ways, this was no ordinary wake for a beloved priest. Copts seemed to have poured on Abbasiya on Saturday evening not only to bid farewell to Shenouda.

Many might have come to begin searching for ways to battle growing anxiety over their future in Egypt in light of the rise of Islamic fundamentalist currents to positions of political power in the aftermath of the January 25 revolution; and to find new mechanisms to construct spiritual solace after the death of the man who they believe guided them through at least 40 years of suffering and injustices.

The reality of those decades of pain could be detected on many grim faces on Saturday, just a much as one could unmistakably identify the religion of many Egyptians through the tattooed crosses on wrists or the Religion column on national ID cards.

“The people loved the Pope because they believe that he successfully saved many Christian lives at a time of rising intolerance in the country through his wise leadership,” Nader, an architectural engineer, told Ahram Online.

“He was, as a religious man, against getting involved in politics. However, he managed, in a clever way, to relay the fears and needs of Christians to the politicians”

“He did this very well because he always had his fingers on the pulse of the Coptic masses,” Nader added.

Sherif, the entrepreneur who believed Shenouda represented love and peace, told Ahram Online he harboured mixed feelings towards the future of the country.

“I believe that the Muslim Brotherhood who won the majority in parliament cherish national unity and will do well by Christians.”

“But, I am scared of the Salafists, who are ideological and do not believe in equality between people from different religions.” Sherif said.

By midnight, no one seemed to be going anywhere away from the church or the body of Pope Shenouda on this Saturday evening.

Even those who were leaving the premises were doing so in order to change clothes and come back to make their presence felt at the church in the three-day mourning period for the Pontiff who is set to be buried on Tuesday.

“They are here from all over Egypt. Many Christians have come from Upper Egypt already. Tomorrow, we expect loads of Egyptians to return from overseas to say goodbye to the Pope,” a man who left the church told Ahram Online.

But, some are not sure where to go once the Pontiff is gone.

“On Wednesdays, the Pope used to give advice to people on ways to cope with harsh realities and discrimination they faced in their daily lives. When he failed to provide answers to their problems, he comforted them by praying for them and with them,” Nader, the engineer, said.

“It is not clear who can do this, or do it as good as the Pope did for years,” Nader wondered.

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