Egypt's ruling military council announced that Tuesday would be a day of general mourning over the death of the Coptic Pope Shenouda III, who passed away on Saturday after years struggling with illness. The Pope's funeral is also on Tuesday, at the Abbasiya Cathedral, where he gave his weekly sermon. The decree was published on the military council's official Facebook page Monday. Tens of thousands of Coptic Christians are flooding into the church to say their final goodbyes to their beloved figure, who was considered the godfather of the Coptic Christian community in Egypt. He often mediated with the state on behalf of Coptic community. The funeral is expected to draw a few million Copts, who make up around 12 percent of Egypt's 83 million population. Jerusalem churches also announced on Monday that they would align their prayer times with those in Egypt in order to honor the Pope, who had been in his position for over four decades. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/GCTgb Tags: Christian, Coptic, Egypt, featured, Pope, Shenouda Section: Egypt, Latest News, Religion
