NEWS FEATURE: Egypt's Copts mourn pope with a worried eye on future
By Nehal El-Sherif, dpa
Cairo (dpa) - Standing outside St Mark's Cathedral in Cairo, Nermeen Milad was crying as she watched the funeral of Pope Shenouda III, who led Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church for more than 40 years.
"He was a father to all of us," said the 45-year-old Christian, who came all the way from Assiut, a province located some 375 kilometres south of Cairo, to pay her respects to Shenouda, whose body was laid in his ceremonial robe and crown inside a coffin.
Inside the cathedral, grieving Christians began shouting "Our Pope, we love you" at the beginning of the service, before being interrupted by one of the bishops who asked them to be "as quiet as they should be in a church."
The last time the cathedral was packed with mourners was in October, after some 27 Copts were killed in Cairo when government troops tried to disperse a rally protesting an attack on a church, an act Copts had blamed on radical Islamists.
The death of Pope Shenouda III comes amid increasing fears among the Christian minority that an Islamist state will replace the regime of former president Hosny Mubarak, after Islamists dominated more than two thirds of parliament, and are expected to play a key role in drafting the Egypt's new constitution.
"Shenouda's religious and spiritual status had been reassuring to Copts, even if they disagreed with a church decision," said Coptic activist Rami Kamel, standing outside the Cathedral. "naturally, our fears are increasing."
Kamel says that now the country's minority are also waiting to see how the church will deal with the different political groups arising.
"His leadership made his sons believe in national unity. This great crowd gathered here that includes Muslims and Christians is because of the powerful leadership of Pope Shenouda," one bishop said at the funeral.
Throughout the past year, many Christian Egyptians have applied for immigration out of fear that Islamists will not give them room to practice their beliefs. For years, they have been calling for a unified law on the legalization of places of worship to make it easier for them to build churches.
Although, the exact numbers of Copts applying for visas remains unknown, local rights groups have estimated that around 100,000 Christians have left since January last year. The US Citizenship and Immigration Service stated that the number of Egyptians seeking asylum in the US has reached a record height with 835 asylum claims in 2011.
According to Howard Eissenstat, a professor of Middle Eastern History at St. Lawrence University, the rise of Islamists in Egypt adds to the sense of vulnerability in the Coptic community.
"I do not think the Muslim Brotherhood is disingenuous per se, but I do see that with the prominence of the radical Salafists in post-Mubarak Egypt, Copts have reasons to be worried," he said.
On Monday, a lawmaker said on his Twitter account that some Salafist members of parliament refused to stand in a moment of silence to mourn the pope.
Yet, the Muslim Brotherhood have been trying to reassure Christians that they will deal with all Egyptians as citizens, regardless of their religion. For the first time in history, senior Brotherhood members have attended the Coptic Christmas ceremony in January, along with government officials and members of the ruling military council.
Some people have criticized Shenouda for being close to Mubarak's government, despite calls by Christians for him to address concerns of government discrimination against them.
Christian activists also slammed his call on anti-Mubarak protesters last year to end their rallies. Shenouda later praised the youths who took part in the revolution and the military.
"All the candidates for the papal post are expected to follow Shenouda's path," said Samuel al-Ashai, one of the mourners. "But now, there might be a change among Christians regarding the divine status Shenouda enjoyed. With a new pope, they (Christians) might be able to challenge the church more, opening the way for more political changes for the Copts in the country."
