Egypt's Christians bid farewell to their patriarch

Tearful and wearing mourning black, tens of thousands of Egyptian Coptic Christians joined Tuesday a funeral mass for their patriarch, Pope Shenouda III, led by senior clerics at the main cathedral in Cairo.          

St. Mark's Cathedral was packed full with local clerics, visiting clergymen and dignitaries as deacons chanted somber hymns and bearded, black-clad priests and monks recited prayers and dispensed incense smoke from censers. Shenouda's body lay in a white casket in the elaborate regalia he traditionally wore to oversee services, complete with an ornate golden crown.         

Many in the congregation broke down in tears, while others frantically waved goodbye as the mass came to a close.          

Clerics, deacons and laypeople gathered around the casket, kissing it, standing in silence or bowing in respect.          
Tens of thousands more who could not get in followed the mass outside the cathedral, carrying portraits of Shenouda and crosses. Many wept, wiping tears off their faces as the melancholic tunes of the hymns reached them through loudspeakers.         

Scores of military police were deployed to maintain security outside the cathedral, with the normally congested traffic of central Cairo backed up for hours because of the crowds. The cathedral is located on a main downtown artery.        

Shenouda died on Saturday at age 88 after spending 40 years at the helm of the Coptic Orthodox Church, one of the world's most ancient Christian denominations. Most of Egypt's estimated 10 million Christians are Orthodox Copts.         

After the mass, Shenouda's body was ferried to a military airport east of Cairo, from which it was to be flown later on Tuesday to the desert St. Bishoy monastery northwest of the capital where he will buried.         

The monastery, which dates back to the 4th century, has been a favorite of Shenouda's.          

Egypt's military ruler, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, declared a nationwide state of mourning on Tuesday.        

A successor to Pope Shenouda has yet to be found and it could take months before the complex process is completed.         

Egypt's Coptic Christians have long complained of discrimination by the nation's Muslim majority. The political ascent of Islamists since the ouster of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak a year ago has added to their worries.     

The ceiling of the burial chamber where Shenouda will be laid to rest is covered with a mosaic depicting Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary and saints. The chamber has a large dome surrounded by smaller ones symbolizing open skies. The chamber has several small windows, big enough to let in a faint light.     

The chamber was originally a small museum housing a collection of antiquities belonging to the monastery such as clay pots, the garments of the monastery's early fathers as well as musical instruments.

The collection was moved elsewhere after Shenouda expressed two months ago a desire to be buried in the monastery, Father Wissa said.

AP