Pope Shenouda III

Pope Shenouda III (Coptic: ???? ???? ?????? ????? ????? Papa Abba Šenoutee pimah šoumt; Arabic: ???? ?????????? ????? ???????; Egyptian Arabic: ?????? ?????, IPA: [el?b??b? ?(e)?nu?dæ]; born Nazeer Gayed Roufail IPA: [n??z?i?? ??æjjed], 3 August 1923 – 17 March 2012[1]) was the 117th Pope of Alexandria and the Patriarch of All Africa on the Holy Apostolic Seat of Saint Mark the Evangelist of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. He was also the head of The Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria. He was a conservative figure within the Church;[2] and also respected within the Muslim community.[3]

A graduate of Cairo University with a degree in History and the Coptic Orthodox Seminary, Nazeer Gayed became a monk under the name Father Antonios the Syrian after joining the Syrian Monastery of the Ever-Virgin Mary the Theotokos, where he was later elevated to the priesthood. Pope Cyril VI summoned Fr. Antonios to the patriarchate where he consecrated him General Bishop for Christian Education and as Dean of the Coptic Orthodox Theological Seminary, whereupon he assumed the name Shenouda, which was the name of a Coptic saint and two previous popes: Shenouda I (859–880) and Shenouda II (1047–1077).

Pope Shenouda served as Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria since 14 November 1971, presiding over a worldwide expansion of the Coptic Orthodox Church. During his papacy, he appointed the first-ever bishops to preside over North American dioceses that now contain over two hundred parishes (200 in the United States, 23 in Canada and one in Mexico), up from four in 1971, as well as the first bishops in Australia and the first bishops in South America. Shenouda was known for his commitment to ecumenism and had, since the 1970s, advocated inter-denominational Christian dialogue. He devoted his writings, teachings and actions to spread and propagate for the rules of understanding, peace, dialogue and forgiveness.

Contents [hide]

1 Early life

2 Monastic life and educational service

3 Bishop

4 Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria

5 Political stances

5.1 Patriotism

5.2 Israel

5.3 Suicide bombers

5.4 Kosheh massacre

5.5 Ethiopian Church conflict

6 Church growth

7 Relations with other Churches

8 Theological disputes

9 Illness and death

9.1 Reactions

10 Awards

11 See also

12 References

13 External links

[edit] Early lifePapal styles of

Pope Shenouda III

Reference style His Most Blessed Beatitude and His Holiness

Spoken style Your Holiness

Religious style Pope and Patriarch

Posthumous style The Thrice Blessed Pope

This article contains Coptic text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Coptic letters.

Born Nazeer Gayed Roufail on 3 August 1923 in Asyut, Upper Egypt, he was the youngest of a family of eight children. Nazeer's mother died shortly after his birth. By the age of 16, Gayed was active in the Coptic Sunday School movement. He was very active in his church and served as a Sunday School teacher, first at Saint Anthony's Church in Shoubra and then at Saint Mary's Church in Mahmasha.[4]

After graduating from Cairo University with a degree in history, he worked as a high school English and Social Studies teacher in Cairo by day, and attended classes at the Coptic Theological Seminary by night. Upon graduation from the seminary in 1949, he was chosen to teach New Testament Studies.[original research?]

[edit] Monastic life and educational serviceOn 18 July 1954, Nazeer joined the monastic life at the Syrian Monastery in Scetes; he was given the name of Father Antonios el-Syriani (Anthony the Syrian). From 1956 to 1962, he lived as a hermit in a cave about seven miles from the monastery, dedicating his time to meditation, prayer, and asceticism. Later, at the