A statement has just been received from His Eminence Metropolitan Bishoy, General Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church, announcing the death of His Holiness Pope Shenouda on 17 March 2012

Further announcements will follow shortly.

His Holiness Pope Shenouda III died at 5.15 p.m. He suffered a heart attack, but was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital.
Copts all over the world are joining the mourning. Abba Seraphim, along with other Coptic clergy are on their way to Cairo to attend an urgent synod.

On Saturday evening, thousands of Copts gathered in the courtyard of Abbasiya Cathedral aiming to pay their last respects to the deceased patriarch. “We are not sure when this will be possible,” said one source. “Perhaps tomorrow.”

Another source indicated that no one would be admitted into the presence of the dead pope until the day of the funeral, “which will be held on Tuesday, three days from now, to make time for followers of the pope to come form across Egypt and from abroad.”

By Saturday evening, most presidential hopefuls, who had by and large made an effort to frequent Coptic mass since the end of the Mubarak regime, were offering their condolences.

“With one or two exceptions we expect all presidential hopefuls to be present in the funeral mass,” added the source, indicating that all state bodies, political parties and groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, had already contacted the church. “Many have been asking how they might pay their respects and participate in the funeral mass.”

Meanwhile, official and church sources said a high level state representation is scheduled for the funeral mass. The head of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), Field Marshall Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, is expected to be at the cathedral to offer his condolences, while SCAF’s second in command, Sami Annan, is expected to be present throughout the mass.

Tantawi decreed three days of official mourning for Copts.

Annan and several SCAF members were invited to attend Christmas Mass on 6 January despite the outrage of the Coptic public at the military’s conspicuous involvement in the tragedy that befell Coptic demonstrators on 9 October while they protested a series of attacks on Coptic churches across Egypt.

Diplomats and some foreign dignitaries are expected at the funeral which will probably take place at the Abbassiya Cathedral before the coffin is taken to the monastery in Wadi Al-Natroun for burial.

“We offer our deep condolences to every one of our Christian brothers for the loss of Pople Shenouda,” Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie said in a statement. “May God help all our Christian brothers overcome this ordeal and bring a successor who can keep promoting the sense of unity between all citizens,” he added.

An Egyptian army statement said that the Pope was a “rare statesman who worked with all of his energy to promote the wellbeing of the nation.”

Bishop Bakhomious (Pachomious) of Behera will head the Coptic Orthodox church for an interim period of two months. The General Congregation Council, which is part of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, will nominate three bishops, one of which is to succeed Pope Shenouda III.

The names of the three bishops will be written on three papers, and a child will pick one, unseen, from a box. This method is used in order for the “will of God” to play a role in the process.

Source: Ahram

Pope Shenouda is trending on Twitter worldwide as people report the news.

BBC News report: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17416429

BBC News Obituary: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17416731

More information: http://theorthodoxchurch.info/blog/news/2012/03/adieu-to-our-beloved-and-ever-loving-papa-shenouda-iii/

Photographs taken from Cairo: http://theorthodoxchurch.info/blog/news/2012/03/snaps-from-cairo-after-the-demise-of-pope-shenouda-iii/

Pope Shenouda’s body is presented on his Papal throne: http://www.egyptindependent.com/node/718671

Who will be the successor to Pope Shenouda? http://www.egyptindependent.com/node/718491

Commenting on the news of the planned retirement of Dr. Rowan Williams as Archbishop of Canterbury, Abba Seraphim said that his scholarly and pastoral qualities would be greatly missed. During his time as Archbishop “he has gained the respect and affection of other Christian communities and has been a firm and dependable friend. Always ready to speak openly on behalf of  suffering Christians in a measured and positive manner, his understanding and sympathy for the spirituality and traditions of Orthodoxy have ensured a warm relationship.” During his primacy, the Church of England and the Anglican Communion have faced many divisive issues, but Dr. Williams has approached them all with unfailing courtesy,  integrity and tolerance. We wish him well in his new distinguished position as Master of  Magdalene College, Cambridge, and hope that we will continue to benefit from his scholarly and insightful writing.

On 15 March at St. George’s-in-the-East, Father Peter Farrington inaugurated the first of the new London Mission’s monthly evening meetings with a talk, “Lord, Teach us to pray.” Drawing on St. John Cassian’s Conferences he explored the counsels of Abba Moses on Prayer before going on to consider the different, but significant, contexts in which the Lord’s Prayer is introduced in the Gospels of Saints Matthew and Luke. Father Peter will return to the theme in his next talk on 12 April. 

Abba Seraphim was present at the Town Hall in Woolwich on 15 March when Michel Wahba and his wife Marynet Bassily received their Certificates of Naturalisation from the Deputy Lieutenant for Greater London & Representative Deputy Lieutenant for the Royal Borough of Greenwich (Colonel Cyril Young, TD, DL, FRCOG). During the Citizenship Ceremony those seeking naturalisation swear allegiance to H.M. The Queen and promise to uphold the laws and values of the United Kingdom. The ceremony concluded with the singing of the National Anthem.

Both Michel and Marynet are members of the Coptic Orthodox Church, although neither was born in Egypt, Marynet having been born in Abu Dhabi and Michel in Kuwait. They now live in Thamesmead, so regularly attend the services at Charlton.

In conversation  after the ceremony, Colonel Young spoke warmly of his visits to Egypt and his respect for the Coptic Orthodox Church.  Since 1984 he has served as trustee of the Bible Lands Fellowship, giving as one of his reasons for being involved “is that I feel as Western Christians we need to understand that we are not the ‘original’ Christians and learn from those who still live in the Middle East.”

Abba Seraphim joined the congregation of the Guild Church of St. Dunstan’s-in-the-West on 14 March for the service of The Solemn Consecration of the New Ring of Ten Bells, which was performed by the Lord Bishop of London (The Rt. Revd & Rt Hon Richard Chartres). Although the ceremony is quite a rarity, the Bishop of London admitted that this was the third set of bells he had consecrated in the City of London in recent years (St. Magnus the Martyr in 2009 & St. Michael’s, Cornhill in 2011).

Although it took place within the Lenten season, the ceremony had a festive feel to it, with Psalm 150 sung in Grandsire Triples and a newly composed Festal Te Deum by Stuart Murray Turnbull.  The bells, decorated with white ribbons and trailing ivy, were displayed in the sanctuary as the bishop and clergy, in gold vestments processed into the church to the strains of J.M. Neale’s “Christ in Made the Sure Foundation”. Following the old Pontificale Romanum the bells were each sprinkled with Holy Water, before being named by their sponsors, anointed with Oil of Catechesius, consecrated with Chrism and solemnly censed. Not only were they censed on the outside but a long-handled chafing dish was used to incense the interiors. The bells will now be hung and it is intended that they will first ring on 5 June when H.M. The Queen enters the City of London on her way to St. Paul’s Cathedral for the Service of Thanksgiving.

The service was followed by a reception generously hosted by Hoare’s Bank in Fleet Street.

Apart from being one of the ecumenical guests, Abba Seraphim’s had a number of reasons for his interest in the service: St. Dunstan was Abbot of Glastonbury; Abba Seraphim is a direct male descendant of the celebrated thirteenth century Kentish bellfounder, Stephen Norton; whilst another of his ancestors, Samuel Hugh Newman, was baptised in old St. Dunstan’s on 25 October 1798.