Egypt’s Coptic Pope Shenouda III dies

Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria and Patriarch of Saint Mark Diocese died on Saturday at the age of 88, Al Arabiya TV reported.

Pope Shenouda’s health has been deteriorating recently. He was unable to give his weekly sermon on Wednesday due to his health problems.

The Pope had gone through spinal cord procedure earlier this month and was discharged from hospital and returned to the papal headquarters in Abbassiya district in Cairo. But his health continued to deteriorate.

Last Wednesday Pope Shenouda was unable to give his weekly sermon and the Maspero Youth Union - a Coptic youth group- organized a prayer in the Coptic Cathedral under the slogan “your people love you.”