H.H. POPE SHENOUDA III 29^th
ENTHRONEMENT ANNIVERSARY

His Holiness Pope Shenouda III
the Pontiff Who Brought Honor
to the Coptic Church

Monir A. Dawoud, M.D.,
Editor in Chief,

THE CHURCH OF ALEXANDRIA
Saint mark the Evangelist, one of the seventy apostles, founded the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt in the first century, and was its first patriarch. Two thousand years later, this church continues to grow under the guidance of its present Patriarch, H.H. Pope Shenouda III, who is the 116th successor to Saint Mark; the 117th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of Saint Mark.

HIS EARLY LIFE
His Holiness Pope Shenouda III was born the youngest of eight children on August 3, 1923 in the Upper Egyptian province of Assyut, and was named Nazeer Gayed. By the age of sixteen, Nazeer began service in the Sunday School of St. Anthony’s Church in Shoubra, Cairo, where he also went to school.
In 1943, Nazeer entered the University of Cairo and completed a Bachelor of Arts in English and History while he spent his summer vacations at the Monastery of St. Mary (Souryan). Although at this time only graduate Students were admitted to the evening classes at the Coptic Theological Seminary, Dean Archdeacon Habib Guirgus admitted Nazeer while he was still in his final year of undergraduate study.
After graduation from the University of Cairo in 1947, Nazeer completed his Military service and began work as a teacher of English and History. Meanwhile, he completed his Bachelor of Theology and the Dean appointed him as lecturer in the Old and New Testaments. In 1950 Nazeer resigned from his secular employment to take a full-time lecturing position. In 1953, he was appointed a lecturer at the Monastic College in Helwan.
Nazeer and other servants labored for several years to establish a strong Sunday School and youth group at St. Anthony’s Church in Shoubra. His service produced hundreds of devoted servants who began establishing youth groups in neighboring parishes.

MONASTIC LIFE
The road to monasticism was a natural consequence of the desire from his early years to consecrate his life to Christ. Pope Shenouda once said, “I found in monasticism a life of complete freedom and clarification.”
He joined the Souryan Monastery in Wadi El-Natroun and a year later, he was ordained a priest, taking the name Fr. Antonious El Souryani. In 1959 His Holiness Pope Kyrollos VI appointed Fr. Antonious as his personal secretary.
On September 30, 1962, Pope Kyrollos VI ordained Fr. Antonious as Bishop Shenouda, the first Bishop for Christian Education. He became the President and Dean of the Theological Seminary, and by late 1969 the enrollment of full-time students doubled and the enrollment of part time students increased ten times its original number. Under his presidency, women were admitted to the College and several were appointed lecturers. His Grace’s efforts were recognized in 1969 when he was elected President of the Association of the Middle East Theological Colleges.
ENTHRONEMENT AS POPE OF ALEXANDRIA
On March 9, 1971, His Holiness Pope Kyrollos VI departed in peace. The Holy Synod met on March 22 to plan for the election of the new Patriarch. Among the final three candidates was Bishop Shenouda. On October 31, 1971, the altar ballot was conducted during the Divine Liturgy on the feast of St. Reweiss. At the end of the Liturgy, His Eminence Metropolitan Antonious, Lucumtenens, laid his hands on a young boy who was then blindfolded and told to choose one of the three pieces of paper from the box. This ballot box had been taken from the altar and placed on an elevated table. As the congregation prayed the Lord’s Prayer and the words “Lord have mercy” the boy chose one of the pieces of paper and gave it to Metropolitan Antonious, who then joyfully declared God’s chosen shepherd for his church as His Grace Bishop Shenouda, Bishop for Education.
On November 14, 1971, in St. Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo, his Holiness Pope Shenouda III was enthroned as 117th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark. His Holiness became the first Patriarch of Alexandria since the fifth century to have been Dean of the Theological Seminary. He continues to lecture at the branches of the Seminary in Cairo, Alexandria, and abroad and at the Higher Institute of Coptic Studies. To meet the expanding ministry of Christian education, His Holiness established other branches of the seminary in Egypt as well as three graduate institutes: Biblical Studies, Hymnology and Coptic Language. On November 29, 1993 he officially opened the Institute of Pastoral Care. For his erudition in theology and scripture, His Holiness has been awarded four honorary Doctoral Degrees in Theology, three from American Universities and one from a German University. The most recent recognition award was presented to His Holiness on Thursday the 16th of this month in France. The UNISCO has offered His Holiness the Tolerance Prize for his outstanding work.
His Holiness’ edifying and spiritually uplifting sermons have won international acclaim in 1978 when the Browning Institute awarded him the prize for the best Christian preacher in the world. His Holiness is also the author of 102 books on a variety of subjects, and over the past thirty years, he has been the Editor-in-Chief of the Church’s official magazine, El-Keraza. This is besides his weekly article in Watany newspaper and magazines.
 
PASTORAL ACTIVITIES
His Holiness ordained ninety three bishops, established general bishoprics, including the first Bishopric of Youth, more than four hundred priests, and countless deacons for Cairo, Alexandria and the Churches abroad. This extended pastoral care to every city, village and family all over the see of St. Mark. His Holiness continually holds meetings and seminars with the clergy to discuss any pastoral problems or needs.
His Holiness also gives special attention to the service of women in the Coptic Orthodox Church. “We felt a great need of the work of women and we wanted women to have a certain order and service in the Church, not only to have girls as Sunday School teachers who give a part of their time whenever they can, but we want girls and women to give their whole life to God and serve the church.” His Holiness says.
Despite his many responsibilities, His Holiness usually manages to spend three days a week in the monastery. His love to monastericism has led to a monastic revival in the Coptic Church. He has ordained hundreds of monks and nuns and renovated and reestablished many monasteries and convents. He is the first Pope to establish Coptic monasteries outside of Egypt, which presently number eight.
As a Bishop for Christian Education, His Grace has overseen the education of Sunday School teachers, has published a Sunday School Curriculum, and during his papacy, has continued to hold meetings for Sunday School teachers to establish a Sunday School curriculum for the churches abroad.
 
THE EXILE AND EFFORT FOR NATIONAL UNITY
During the early years of his enthronement, His Holiness Pope Shenouda had an amicable relationship with the late Egyptian President Anwar El-Sadat. However, during his presidency, violent Islamic fundamentalist groups increased all over Egypt, especially in the Universities. They started to attack the Copts, vandalize their businesses, and burn their churches, which led Pope Shenouda to protest to the government against the repeated violence. Sadat reacted by issuing a presidential decree to exile His Holiness to the Monastery of St. Beshoy, imprison eight bishops, twenty-four priests, leading Coptic lay figures, and ban El-Keraza magazine and Watany newspaper.
Despite having to spend forty months away from his flock, His Holiness continued to care for his church. He saw the exile as an opportunity for spiritual retreat and wrote sixteen books during that time.
A month after his decree, Sadat was assassinated by the same fundamentalist groups. After much effort from His Holiness’ children inside and outside the Coptic Orthodox Church, and after three and half years, the succeeding Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, released Pope Shenouda from exile. Accompanied by many bishops, His Holiness returned to St. Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo, where more than ten thousand people filled the Cathedral to receive their Pope. What a great resemblance between today and before? The same picture repeated and you can imagine what happened before with St. Athanasious.
His Holiness, after praying the Prayer of Thanksgiving, greeted his flock with these words: “I have no residence except in your hearts, which are full of love. I have never been away from your hearts, not even for a twinkle of an eye.” He went on to say “I would like to do my best to deepen love, peace and reconciliation between the church and the State, between the church and our Muslim citizens. We are like organs in the one body, which is Egypt.”
His Holiness works tirelessly to improve relations between the Christians and Muslims in Egypt, in order to establish a peaceful social environment and to dispel sectarian divisions. The Pope and the President of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, are in good relations, as well as with the moderate Muslims in Egypt.
His Holiness had declared Al-Kosheh victims as “Our Martyrs” as he announced that in the official Church Magazine, El-Keraza in January of this year, when twenty-one Christians were killed by the hands of fanatic Moslems in collaboration with the Sohag District’s police.
His stand is clearly that of a great lover of Egypt, who still believes in treating the persecution problem through honest truthful remedies, and not through trials of covering and unjust treatment of one section of the nation under the umbrella of the so-called “National Unity”. As a good shepherd, he cannot do it differently!
He still rejects all types of discrimination or suppression of freedom for any person, group, organization or nation.

HIS SUPPORT TO THE PALESTINIAN STATE
His Holiness Pope Shenouda III has been a great pillar in emphasizing the Palestinian rights and their independence. In the last present attacks against the Palestinians, His Holiness Pope Shenouda III has condemned the Israeli aggression on Al Aqsa Mosque and the massacres committed by Israel against the Palestinians. His Holiness declared that it is a political crime, which destroys all previous agreements and efforts towards peace and is against every political, religious and humanitarian peace effort. His Holiness also asked, “How can a crimeless child be attacked and how can an innocent child be killed in the bosom of his father? That is inhuman”. His Holiness asked the Security Council and the United Nations to bear their responsibilities firmly and to immediately stop the bloodshed in Jerusalem and punish those responsible for it. His Holiness asked the Arab nations to stand in unity and help the unarmed Palestinians facing Israeli tanks and military planes that are trying to draw the area towards war during a time, which peace agreements are near achievement. His Holiness expressed his sorrow for these events and emphasized the coalition of Egypt with the Palestinians in such a dangerous situation. His Holiness expressed his hope that the Palestinians will be protected and that their rights will be preserved. His Holiness condemned the idea of making Jerusalem a Jewish or international city. No wonder that the Arabs call His Holiness “The Pope of the Arabs”!
 
ECUMENICAL RELATIONS
His Holiness Pope Shenouda III is well known for his deep commitment to Christian unity. In an address he gave at an ecumenical forum during the International Week of Prayer for Christian Unity held at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo in 1974, His Holiness declared that: “The whole Christian world is anxious to see the Church unite. Christian people, being fed up with divisions and dispersion, are pushing their Church leaders to do something about Church unity and I am sure that the Holy Spirit is inspiring us.” He has emphasized that Christian unity must be founded upon a unity of Faith and not upon a unity of jurisdiction.
Before his enthronement, Bishop Shenouda attended the first unofficial ecumenical consultation between theologians of the Oriental Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Churches, in Vienna on September 1971. The agreed statement included the words: “We believe that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, is God the Son incarnate; perfect in His Divinity and perfect in His Humanity. His Divinity was not separated from His Humanity for a single moment; not for the twinkling of an eye. His Humanity is one with His Divinity without commixture, without confusion, without division, without separation. We in our common faith in the one Lord Jesus Christ regard His mystery inexhaustible and ineffable and for the human mind never fully comprehensible or expressible.”
In May 1973 His Holiness Pope Shenouda III paid a cordial visit to His Holiness, the late Pope Paul VI in Rome. This was the first meting between an Alexandrian and Roman Pontiff since the time of the great schism of 451 A.D. Both Popes signed a common Declaration, containing, amongst other things, a confession of common Faith in the mystery of the Word Incarnate. In welcoming His Holiness to Rome, the late Pope Paul VI said, “You are indeed the Head of a church whose origin goes back to the Evangelist Mark and which had in Saint Athanasius the invincible defender of our common Nicene faith, that is, faith in the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
In response, His Holiness Pope Shenouda said, “We have to declare that between us there are many points of agreement in the principles of faith. As for points of difference, there is no doubt that after fifteen centuries of study, examination, and controversy, we are at much nearer grounds of agreement than our ancestors of the fifth and sixth centuries. We are all more ready and more intense in our desire to reach solutions for differences and attain simpler expressions of our common faith.”

His Holiness Pope John Paul II visited
His Holiness Pope Shenouda III at the Papal residence on February 24, 2000, and both Pontiffs met again on February 25, 2000, during the historic visit of the Catholic Pope to Egypt. His Holiness Pope Shenouda told Pope John Paul II “I hope that all efforts for Christian unity may go forward through your help.” And called the Pontiff “a man of politics, a man of religion and a man respected by all.” The meetings were characterized by the great love of the two apostolic successors and brought back the memories of the saintly meetings of the early church fathers. The mutual respect and humbleness gave an example of the early apostolic life. His Holiness Pope John Paul II praised the efforts of Pope Shenouda towards the church unity and the spread of the word of God.
During this year, His Holiness Pope Shenouda III also welcomed His Holiness the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and His Holiness the Armenian Catholicous Karakin II.
Until now, His Holiness initiates and closely monitors theological dialogues with the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Swedish Lutheran and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. His Holiness is presently one of the Presidents of the World Council of Churches and the Middle East Council of Churches.
 
THE COPTIC CHURCH ALL OVER THE WORLD
When His Holiness Pope Shenouda III was enthroned, there were no Bishops and only seven Coptic churches outside of Egypt: two each in Canada, the United States of America, Australia, and one in England. Due mainly to the efforts and encouragement of His Holiness, today there are around two hundred churches outside of Egypt, of which about eighty are in the United States. To date, His Holiness has ordained 93 Bishops including the Ethiopian Patriarch and his six Bishops. Metropolitan Seraphim is serving the British Orthodox churches in England. In addition, His Holiness was the first Pope to ordain Bishop Serapion for the Diocese in Los Angeles, South California and Hawaii, and Bishop Youssef for the Southern United States. His Holiness had ordained Bishop Suriel for Australia last year after serving the East Coast in America for two years. This year, His Holiness has ordained Bishop Gabrail for Austria, bringing the number of Coptic Bishops in Europe to ten. Bishops Missael, Anthony and Angaelos are currently serving in the United Kingdom. Bishops Marcos and Athanasious are currently serving in France. Bishop Demian is currently serving in Germany. Bishop Kyrillos is now serving in Milan, Italy. Jerusalem has been served by Bishop Abraham. His grace Bishop Antonious Morcos and Bishop Boules are serving the African continent.
His Holiness established the Arch-Diocese of North America in Cedar Grove, N.J., which contains the first Papal Head-Quarters outside Egypt. Bishop David is the representative of His Holiness in this Archdiocese. There are two theological seminaries in the U.S., and a monastery in California headed by Bishop Karas. In Latin America, His Holiness established a church in Bolivia, besides the church of Brazil. In Australia there are about thirty churches, two theological colleges, two secondary schools, a primary school, two monasteries and a nursing home. In Canada, there are about twenty churches, two schools, and the city of Toronto houses a large Coptic Cultural Center. There are about twenty churches and a monastery in Great Britain, nine churches in Germany, six churches in France, four in Austria, four in Italy, five in Holland, two in Switzerland and one church in Belgium, Denmark, Greece and Sweden. This year, the reconstruction of the monastery of Milan, Italy, was completed. His Holiness established a church in Cyprus. It is very hard to keep up with the continuously increasing numbers of churches, schools, seminaries, monasteries, bishops and priests.

THE PAPAL VISITS
Like St Paul, His Holiness has done a great deal of traveling and has visited his children in all parts of the world. And so, he fulfilled what is inspired in 1 Peter 5:2-4, “Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by constraint but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.” His Holiness has made about forty pastoral visits outside of Egypt. The most extensive tour took place from August to December 1989, when he made an historic one hundred and twelve day visit to all the Coptic Churches in Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia. During his trip, His Holiness laid foundation stones of new Churches, consecrated most of the altars in the churches, baptized hundreds of children, ordained hundreds of deacons, delivered many lectures at theological seminaries and universities, opened a theological seminary in New Jersey and in Los Angeles, and conducted numerous spiritual meetings.
In the United States, the Mayor of Jersey City hoisted the Coptic Church flag side by side with the American flag at City Hall during the Papal visit. The U.S. House of representatives invited His Holiness to open a congressional session with prayer. His Holiness also met with former U.S. President George Bush and requested that “he give a big push” to peace in the Middle East. In a previous visit, His Holiness met with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. Afterwards His Holiness and Carter became good friends. His last visit of August through September 3 of this year was of the same type of all his activities. His grace bishop David gave a summary about the endeavors of this last trip. This trip was crowned by the ceremony that His Holiness headed on Saturday September 2, 2000. This celebration was for the memory of the visit of the Holy Family to our beloved Egypt.
It has been a very difficult task to count, enumerate or collect the great work that His Holiness has executed during the 29 years of his Papal hood. His Holiness is gifted with a mind that can be described as an encyclopedia, and energetic soul that –at least- makes him described as “The Dynamic Pope” and a spirit that loves every body! In my trial to speak about his virtues, I am like the child who tried to transfer the ocean’s water to the small hole he made in the sand!
With the joy of our souls and the love of our hearts, we congratulate ourselves on this 29th anniversary of your Holy enthronement. Truly, we are blessed to be your children!
We ask and entreat your goodness, O Lover of Mankind, to remember, O Lord, our patriarch, the honored father, the high priest, Abba Shenouda III…keep him unto us for many years and peaceful times, fulfilling that holy high priesthood, with which You have entrusted him, from Yourself, according to Your Holy and Blessed Will; rightly defining the word of truth; shepherding Your people in purity and righteousness. Amen.

Your unworthy and loving son,
Monir Dawoud, MD

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