The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria will hold a memorial prayer Monday morning at the monastery of Saint Pishoy in Beheira’s Wadi el-Natrun to commemorate the death of former Pope Shenouda III, reported Al-Masry Al-Youm.
The late pope was chosen as Pope of Alexandria on Nov. 14, 1971 and served until he passed away March 17, 2012.
The church will hold an official ceremony at the Coptic Cultural Center in Saint Mark Cathedral in Abasseya on Monday night to announce the recipients of awards named after Pope Shenouda III.
Priest Royce Mark, deputy and spokesperson of the cathedral of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, said Sunday that the church will hold a small ceremony after the prayers to display a taped sermon of Shenouda III who used to preach both in Saint Mark Cathedral in Abasseya and the Alexandria Patriarchate.
The late pope played a vital role in relieving occasional sectarian tensions during former President Hosni Mubarak’s regime until he passed during the political transitional period in 2012.
The ousted President Mohamed Morsi, who was at that time the chairperson of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), expressed his conciliations to Egyptian Copts for the death of Pope Shenouda III through his official account on Twitter.
Mahmou Ashour, former deputy of Al-Azhar, told Al-Ahram on Monday that “Shenouda III was a pleasant and cultivated man. He used to participate in the meetings of the Islamic Researches Conference and was knowledgeable about all religious sciences.”
