CAIRO: Egypt's Coptic Christian minority is to learn the name of their new leader on Sunday. The country's largest Christian group has been without a Pope since the late Pope Shenouda passed away earlier this year. A blindfolded child will pick a name from a box in the traditional manner in which the oldest Christian sect chooses their pontiff. It comes as many Christians in the country fear their future under the Islamic government of President Mohamed Morsi, but the president has tried to reassure the Christian minority in the country that he will be the leader for all Egyptians and not just for Muslims. Egypt's state news agency, citing a church official responsible for overseeing the papal election, said “2,405 voters were eligible to cast ballots after a list of up to seven candidates was drawn up on October 4." That will then be taken down to three candidates, of whom a young child will then draw a name from a box, choosing the next Coptic Christian Pope. The shortlisted candidates are Bishop Raphael, Bishop Tawadros and Father Raphael Ava Mina. Egypt's Christians make up approximately 10 percent of the country's 87 million population, of whom the majority are Coptic. George Zaki, a young man studying to become a priest, says that right now “it is really up in the air" the direction the church will head. “One side I am hearing wants to bring in someone a bit young, strong and energetic to face off against the Islamists and push for our rights more openly, while the other wants to maintain Pope Shenouda's idea that through tolerance and promoting unity, Egypt can have a pluralistic society," he told Bikyamasr.com earlier this year.
