Australian Leader Albanese Marks Death of Coptic Pope Shenouda III

Australian Labor MP Anthony Albanese, Leader of the House and Member for Grayndler, rose in Parliament to extend condolences to Egyptian Copts around the world, and in particular to Coptic families in his electorate, on the passing of Pope Shenouda III, the 117th Pope of Alexandria and their spiritual leader.

Albanese said Pope Shenouda was born in 1923, the youngest of eight children. He graduated from Cairo University with a degree in history, taught high school English and social studies, and graduated from the Coptic Theological Seminary in 1949. In 1962 he was appointed to the bishopric of Christian education. Albanese said that within seven years of his leadership, the number of students at the seminary had increased tenfold.

Albanese said the Pope was suspended from the church between 1966 and 1969 for what he described as radical “campaigns for change,” which among other things called for the popular election of bishops and priests. In 1973, according to Albanese, Pope Shenouda became the first Coptic Orthodox pope in 1,500 years to sit down with the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Both men agreed to encourage greater Christian unity between their faiths (John 17:21). Albanese also said the Pope reinstated the ordination of deaconesses, which he described as having ceased for several centuries, and brought women into theological colleges and communal church councils.

Albanese described the Pope as passionate about social justice and equality, particularly peace in the Middle East and justice for the Palestinian people. He said the Pope devoted himself to bringing the people of Egypt together regardless of faith, and he quoted a 2001 statement from the Pope: “Love generates love, and separation generates separation.”

According to Albanese, the number of Coptic churches outside Egypt grew from seven in 1971 to more than 150 at the time of the speech. He said the first Coptic church in Australia was St Mary and St Mina’s Coptic Orthodox Church in Railway Road, Sydenham, in his electorate of Grayndler. Albanese also said the Pope encouraged Coptic youth worldwide, declaring that “a Church without youth is a Church without a future,” and was vital in establishing three Coptic Orthodox schools in Sydney. He added that the Pope wrote more than 100 books on spirituality and theology during his papacy.

Albanese quoted Father Antonios Kaldas of the Archangel Michael and St Bishoy Coptic Orthodox Church in Sydney, who said that the real Church is made up of the hearts and lives of its members, and that buildings and institutions are tools for building it. Albanese also quoted Father Kaldas’s description of love, truth, wisdom, integrity, kindness and compassion as the things that mattered most.

Albanese said he met Pope Shenouda during the Pope’s sixth papal visit to Australia in November 2002. Earlier, he had travelled to Egypt as part of a delegation from his local community that included two Marrickville councillors, Morris Hanna, now Mayor of Marrickville, and Morris Tadros. He said the delegation met many Coptic Orthodox leaders and took part in a dialogue he described as extremely positive. Albanese concluded by offering his sincere condolences to the Coptic Orthodox community in its time of mourning.

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