Tens of thousands of Christians gathered at the main Coptic cathedral here hoping to see body of their spiritual leader.
Worshippers formed queues stretching for more than a mile through Cairo yesterday as they bade an emotional farewell to the patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church. Dressed in a golden mitre, the body of Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria was placed on the episcopal throne at St Mark’s Cathedral, as is traditional, where he will remain in state until his funeral tomorrow.
Pope Shenouda III, the charismatic patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt for 4 decades who expanded its presence world over and worked to keep peace between the Christians and Muslims at home, has died at the age of 88 after battling liver and lung problems for years.
