November 4, 2012
The Coptic Church has elected a new Pope to succeed Pope Shenouda III, who died last March. Bishop Tawadros, 60, has been chosen in a ceremony in St Mark's Cathedral, in Egypt's capital, Cairo. The nomination follows an age-old ritual that involves the compiling of a short-list of three candidates, one of whose names is then randomly pulled out of a container by a blindfolded boy. The other two nominees were Bishop Raphael and Father Raphael Ava Mina, a monk. The three were originally chosen last October in a ballot involving almost two and a half thousand Church officials and community members.
Bishop Tawadros has a tough act to follow. Pope Shenouda III had been in office for over 40 years and had managed to guide and extend the Church through difficult times and negotiations, while maintaining his gravitas and traditions of the Coptic faith. Nevertheless the new Pope has a wealth of experience to back him up. Apart from his ecclesiastical knowledge and work, which includes his current post as aide to the acting leader, Bishop Pachomius, he is well read, has studied in Britain and has even managed a pharmaceutical business. He will need great skill in these uncertain times following the fall of President Hosni Mubarak and the dominance of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
The Coptic Church is very similar in doctrines and traditions to the Eastern (Greek) Orthodox Church. It went its own way after the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD, owing to differences of opinion regarding the nature of Christ. It is the main Christian faith in Egypt, with a following of about 10% of the 90 million or so inhabitants. It is unlikely that the new Pope will have to face the modernising forces other Christian denominations are having to come to terms with. His main concern will be the safety and freedom of worship of the Coptic faithful in Egypt. He may well need Heaven's help in order to achieve this difficult task.
No comments:
Post a Comment