Today, Sunday, the Coptic Orthodox Church celebrates the 12th anniversary of the departure of… Pope Shenouda III The 117th Patriarch in the history of the Church.
He mentioned His Holiness Pope Tawadros II In exclusive statements to Al-Youm Al-Seven, he recalled his memories of the day of the departure of Pope Shenouda III, saying: “The day Pope Shenouda died, I was in Marsa Matrouh, because it belongs to the diocese in which I was serving. I arrived from Damanhour at around 3 pm after traveling 400 kilometers, in order to stay with them for 3 days of service.” But near 5 o’clock we got the news of the Pope’s death. I flew to Cairo on the same day and arrived late at night, but Ramses Street was completely closed, and I had 3 days until the day of the conscription, and it was a very painful scene. We all loved the Pope, his writings, his sermons, his experiences, and his visits, and he sat and watched us. 40 years of patriarch, and we were all his students.”
child Pope Shenouda III His family was from the Salam Center, where his father was from the same village, while his mother was from the Abnoub Center in Assiut Governorate, specifically from the village of Al-Hamam, and she was called Balsam Gad. After his birth, his mother was afflicted with puerperal fever, so she left him as an infant, so one of the Muslim women of the village breastfed him, and she was called “Haja Sabira” with her child. He was the same age as Pope Shenouda at the time, and the women of the village participated in breastfeeding and caring for this little boy until he became stronger, and he was then named “Raphael’s good counterpart.”
His brothers were busy with him after the death of his mother, and they forgot to register his name in the birth books and did not obtain a birth certificate for him.