Het hoofd van de
koptische kerk in Egypte, Paus Shenouda III, is 88 jaar geworden.
Het hoofd van de koptische kerk in
Egypte is zaterdag overleden. Dat heeft het Egyptische staatspersbureau MENA
bekendgemaakt.
De
kerkleider bezweek volgens MENA aan lever- en longaandoeningen die hem al jaren
parten speelden. Een koptische televisiezender vertoonde zaterdag een portret
van de overleden paus met het onderschrift ‘De koptische kerk bidt tot God dat
hij in de armen van heiligen in vrede mag rusten’.
Shenouda III
leidde de Koptische christelijke kerk voor generaties
De koptische
patriarch, die in het Arabisch met ‘Baba Shenouda’ werd aangeduid, leidde zijn
Koptisch-Orthodoxe Kerk ruim dertig jaar lang. Aanhangers zagen Shenouda als
beschermheer tegen de dreiging die volgens veel kopten uitgaat van de
islamitische meerderheid in hun land. De paus bleef het bewind van de gehate
president Hosni Mubarak lang steunen, omdat de belangen van de christelijke
minderheid in zijn ogen daarmee het best waren gediend.
De kopten,
die tien procent uitmaken van de 85 miljoen Egyptenaren, kregen het afgelopen
jaar te maken met toenemend geweld en gingen vaak de straat op om te
protesteren tegen het uitblijven van stappen tegen de daders.
De kopten
klagen al lang over discriminatie door de staat en vooroordelen van de
moslimmeerderheid. Christenen worden zelden op belangrijke posten in de
veiligheidsdiensten of bij de overheid benoemd en hun overtuigingen worden vaak
door radicale moslimgeestelijken door het slijk gehaald.
The
Old Eagles Are Flying Home to their Maker,
to
make room for the Changing of the guard,
For
the Next Pope to take The seat.
the
Countdown of 2012, is well on the Way.
You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you to Myself. Exodus 19-4
Does the eagle mount up at your command, and make her nest on high? Job
39-27.
CNN's
Ian Lee reports on the death of the man who led generations of Egypt's Coptic
Christians.
For Egypt's estimated 10 million Coptic
Christians, he was a religious thinker and a charismatic leader, known for his
sense of humour - his smiling portrait was hung in many Coptic homes and shops.
Above all, many Copts saw him as the guardian
of their minority living amid a majority Muslim population in this country of
more than 80 million people.
Shenouda sought to do so by striking a
conservative balance. During the rule of President Hosni Mubarak, he gave
strong support to his government, while avoiding pressing Coptic demands too
vocally in public to prevent a backlash from Muslim conservatives.
After Mubarak's fall a year ago, Christians
grew increasingly worried over the rising power of Muslim conservatives.
Islamic hard-liners carried out a string of
attacks on churches, and their clerics gave increasingly dire warnings that
Christians were hoarding weapons and seeking to take over the country.
Christian anger over the violence was further stoked when troops harshly put
down a Christian protest in Cairo, killing 27 people.
In an unprecedented move aimed at showing
unity, leaders from the Muslim Brotherhood along with top generals from the
ruling military joined Shenouda for services for Orthodox Christmas in January
at Cairo's main cathedral.
"For the first time in the history of the
cathedral, it is packed with all types of Islamist leaders in Egypt,"
Shenouda told the gathering.
"They all agree ... on the stability of
this country and in loving it, and working for it and to work with the Copts as
one hand for the sake of Egypt."
Still, a sector of Christians - particularly
among youth who supported the revolution against Mubarak - grew critical of
Shenouda, saying his conservative approach was not doing enough to stem what
they saw as growing anti-Christian violence and discrimination against their
community.
In recent years, the aging patriarch travelled
repeatedly to the United States for treatment. Yasser Ghobrial, a physician who
worked at a Cairo hospital when the pope was treated there in 2007, said he
suffered from prostate cancer that spread to his colon and lungs.
The pope, who rose to his position in 1971,
clashed significantly with the government once: In 1981 then-President Anwar
Sadat sent him into internal exile in the desert monastery of Wadi Natrun,
north of Cairo, after Shenouda accused the government of failing to rein in
Muslim extremists.
Sadat, who was assassinated later that year by
Islamic militants, accused Shenouda of fomenting sectarianism.
The
seat of the Pharaos are Coming Down,
Pharaoh
said, "Who is Yahweh, that I should listen to his voice to let Israel go?
I don't know Yahweh, and moreover I will not let Israel go." Exodus 5-2.
The
patriarch, known in Arabic as Baba Shenouda, headed one of the most ancient
churches in the world, which traced it founding to St. Mark, who is said to
have brought Christianity to Egypt in the 1st Century.
Father in Jesus name we ask, May this man Rest in your Peace.
Archbishop of Canterbury resigns to take position at Magdalene College
Throne
Shiftings.
The
Archbishop of Canterbury,
Dr. Rowan Williams, said Friday that he will resign at the end
of December to take a position as Magdalene
College, Cambridge, the Telegraph reports. Williams? ten-year reign as
archbishop was filled with disagreements…
Bron:
Nrc.nl en Guardian.co.uk
Posted:
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en Eindtijd.goedbegin.nl
