Egypt, penultimate stage to choose the successor Shenouda III
Cairo (AsiaNews /
Agencies) - Today in Egypt, the penultimate stage of the work to elect the new
pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church is underway. Of
the five candidates already selected by 2405, among the laity, monks, priests
and prelates voters will indicate three: on the 4th of November, they will
choose the successor to Shenouda III, who died
last March 17. Meanwhile,
there were clashes yesterday between Copts and Muslims in a village south of
Cairo. A
group of Muslims attempted to prevent the local Christians entering the church
to attend Sunday mass. The
result was an altercation, in which five Christians were injured.
The
five candidates are: Amba Raphael, 52, a bishop in charge of parishes in the
center of Cairo; Tawadraus Amba, 60, bishop of Behaira; Higoumen Rouphail Afa
Mina, 70, of Mari Mina monastery and student of the patriarch Kyrillos VI ,
precedecessor to the deceased patriarch, al-Souryani Serafini, 53, of the
monastery of the Syrians Dayr al-Souryan, where he Shenouda III was a monk, the
hegumen Pakhomios, 49, the youngest candidate, also from Dayr al- Souryan.
The
Electoral Commission has been studying the files of the 17 candidates, since 4
October. According
to local sources, it is under massive pressure to speed up the selection of the
new head of the Orthodox Church, in order to address the problems experienced
in recent months by the Coptic community in Egypt. After
setting November 24 and December 2 as the date for the second and third phase
election, last week, the Commission further accelerated the time, anticipating the
second phase to today. The
final ceremony - scheduled for November 4 - will be held in the Cathedral of
St. Mark
Abassya, with the draw of one of the three names on the altar made by a child
(blindfolded) of no more than nine years, chosen from among the faithful.
The
Coptic Church has about 16 million members worldwide. Out
of a population of 80 million people, it represents 10% in Egypt.
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20/03/2012
