(17 Mar 2012) FILE: 6 January 2012
1. Tracking shot of Pope Shenouda III (wearing golden embroidered mitre), spiritual leader of Coptic Church, entering Abbasiya Church for Coptic Orthodox Christmas Eve
2. Wide of Shenouda III waving to Christian worshippers
FILE: 24 January 2000
3. Mid of Shenouda III (in black mitre) waiting arrival of Pope John Paul II, head of Catholic Church
4. Zoom in of Shenouda III greeting John Paul II
5. Tracking shot of Shenouda III and John Paul II walking together
6. Mid of Shenouda III seated at meeting with John Paul II
FILE: 17 May 2011
7. Tracking shot of Shenouda III (far left) arriving for meeting with Sheik Ahmed al-Tayeb, Imam of al-Azhar mosque
8. Wide of meeting between Shenouda III and al-Tayeb
9. Mid of Shenouda III
STORYLINE
Pope Shenouda III, the patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church, who led Egypt's Christian minority for 40 years during a time of increasing tensions with Muslims, has died.
Egypt's state news agency MENA said Shenouda died on Saturday after battling liver and lung problems for several years. He was 88.
The patriarch, known in Arabic as Baba Shenouda, headed one of the most ancient churches in the world.
The church traces its founding to Saint Mark, who is said to have brought Christianity to Egypt in the 1st century, during the reign of the Roman emperor Nero.
For Egypt's estimated 10 (m) million Coptic Christians, he was a charismatic leader, known for his sense of humour - his smiling portrait was hung in many Coptic homes and shops.
Above all, many Copts saw him as the guardian of their minority group, living amid a majority Muslim population in this country of more than 80 (m) million people.
Shenouda sought to do so by striking a conservative balance.
During the rule of President Hosni Mubarak, he gave strong support to his government, while avoiding pressing Coptic demands too vocally in public to prevent a backlash from Muslim conservatives.
After Mubarak's fall a year ago, Christians grew increasingly worried over the rising power of Muslim conservatives.
Islamic hardliners carried out a string of attacks on churches, and their clerics gave increasingly dire warnings that Christians were hoarding weapons and seeking to take over the country.
Christian anger over the violence was further stoked when troops harshly put down a Christian protest in Cairo, killing 27 people.
In an unprecedented move aimed at showing unity, leaders from the Muslim Brotherhood, along with top generals from the ruling military, joined Shenouda for services for Orthodox Christmas in January at Cairo's main cathedral.
Shenouda also met Sheik Ahmed al-Tayeb, Imam of Cairo's al-Azhar Mosque, in 2011, amid attacks by Muslim fundamentalists on Christians, in an attempt to diffuse the religious tensions in Egypt.
Still, a sector of Christians - particularly among youth who supported the revolution against Mubarak - grew critical of Shenouda, saying his conservative approach was not doing enough to stem what they saw as growing anti-Christian violence and discrimination against their community.
In recent years, the ageing patriarch travelled repeatedly to the United States for treatment.
A physician who worked at a Cairo hospital when the pope was treated there in 2007 said Shenouda suffered from prostate cancer that had spread to his colon and lungs.
Shenouda was born Nazeer Gayed on 3 August 1923, in the southern city of Assiut.
After entering the priesthood, he became an activist in the Sunday School movement, which was launched to revive Christian religious education.

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