Thousands gather for funeral of Egypt's Pope

Egypt has seen less of the religious violence and discrimination that prompted members of ancient Christian communities to migrate from Iraq and other Arab countries.

But Coptic Christians, who comprise about a tenth of Egypt's 80 million people, have long complained of discrimination and in the past year stepped up protests, which included calls for new rules that would make it as easy to build a church as a mosque.

Shenouda strongly opposed Islamic militancy but strove to quell growing anger among Copts at Islamic extremism, attacks on churches and sectarian clashes often sparked by inter-faith romances and church building permits.

Thousands have paid their respects at the cathedral since he died. For much of the time, Shenouda's body was put in a seated position on a ceremonial throne dressed in gold and red embroidered vestments.

On Sunday, the cathedral had to close its doors several times in an attempt to contain the crowds. Two mourners died killed in the crush, medical sources said.

The burial is expected to take place at the Wadi el Natrun monastery in the desert northwest of Cairo, where the late pope had requested he be interred.

Shenouda was banished to Wadi el Natrun monastery in 1981 by then-President Anwar Sadat after he criticised the government's handling of an Islamic insurgency in the 1970s and Egypt's 1979 peace treaty with Israel.

The more consensual approach he took in later years has left some Egyptians wondering whether his successor will build on that legacy or seek to counter the new political dominance of Islamists long suppressed by Mubarak, or seek more confrontation in his defence of Copts.

"We need someone who would defend the rights of Christians but through calm diplomatic means that would not create grudges with Muslims or the state," said Mustapha al-Sayyid, a politics professor at Cairo University.

One of Shenouda's oft-repeated sayings, also cited in newspapers, was: "Egypt is not a nation we live in, rather it is a nation that lives in us."

Culled from Reuters Africa