2012 Egyptian Christians mourn Coptic pope Shenouda III

3. Pope Shenouda III

5. Pope John Paul II sits with Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenouda III, during a meeting at Shenouda's residence in Cairo, Egypt, February 2000 (Photo: AP)

6. Associated Press - Egyptian Christians perform prayers at Coptic Patriarchate headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, for Pope Shenouda III, the patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Saturday, March 17, 2012. Pope Shenouda III who led Egypt's Christian minority for 40 years during a time of increasing tensions with Muslims, has died. He was 88. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

7. Egyptian Christian Copts mourn the death of Pope Shenouda III, the 117th Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark Cathedral, at the main cathedral in Cairo March 17, 2012. - Source: Reuters

8. An Egyptian Christian weeps during prayers in Cairo, Egypt, for Pope Shenouda III, the patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church , Saturday, March 17, 2012. Pope Shenouda III who led Egypt's Christian minority for 40 years during a time of increasing tensions with Muslims, has died. He was 88. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

9. AP Photo - Egyptian women mourn for Pope Shenouda III, the patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Saturday, March 17, 2012 at the cathedral in Cairo, Egypt. Pope Shenouda III who led Egypt's Christian minority for 40 years during a time of increasing tensions with Muslims, has died. He was 88.

10. AP Photo - Mourners gather outside the Coptic Orthodox Church for the viewing of the body of Pope Shenouda III in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, March 18, 2012. 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, died Saturday. He was 88.

11. Esam Omran Al-Fetori / Reuters - Egyptian Christians gather to mourn the death of Pope Shenouda III, the head of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church, outside the Abbasiya Cathedral in Cairo on March 18.

12. Egyptian Christians gather to mourn the death of Pope Shenouda III, the head of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church, outside the Abbasiya Cathedral in Cairo. - Source: Reuters

13. An Egyptian Christian woman mourns the death of Pope Shenouda III, the head of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church, outside the Abbasiya Cathedral in Cairo. - Source: Reuters

14. Photograph: Khaled Elfiqi/EPA

15. Reuters Pictures Egyptian Christians gather to mourn the death of Pope Shenouda III, the head of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church, outside the Abassiya Cathedral in Cairo March 18, 2012. Christians gathered on Sunday to pay final respects to Pope Shenouda III, who sought to soothe sectarian tension in his four decades atop Egypt's Orthodox Church but saw increasing flare-ups in the majority Muslim nation in the last months of his life.

21. Coptic Christians walk next a photo of Pope Shenouda III (Picture: EPA/KHALED ELFIQI)

22. The body of Pope Shenouda III, the head of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church, is displayed for public viewing inside the Abassiya Cathedra in Cairo. Source: Reuters

23. Cairo, Egypt - The body of Pope Shenouda III, the head of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church, is displayed for public viewing inside the Abbasiya Cathedral in Cairo March 18, 2012. Christians gathered on Sunday to pay final respects to Pope Shenouda III, who sought to soothe sectarian tension in his four decades atop Egypt's Orthodox Church but saw increasing flare-ups in the majority Muslim nation in the last months of his life.- (KHALED DESOUKI / AFP / Getty Images)

24. CAIRO - Pope Shenouda III, head of Coptic Christian church, has died. He was 88. Shenouda died Saturday after battling liver and lung problems from several years. - Known in Arabic as "Baba Shenouda," the pope had presided for more than three decades over the Egypt-based Coptic Orthodox Chuirch, one of the oldest churches in the world. For Egypt's estimated 10 million Coptic Christians, he was seen as the guardian of their minority living amid a majority Muslim population in this country of more than 80 million people. The body of Pope Shenouda III, the head of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church is displayed for public viewing inside the Abbasiya Cathedral in Cairo March 18, 2012 .

25. The body of Pope Shenouda III, the head of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church, is displayed for public viewing inside the Abassiya Cathedra in Cairo March 18, 2012. Source: Reuters

27. Khaled Desouki / AFP - Getty Images A Coptic Christian mourns the death of Pope Shenouda III, the spiritual leader of the Middle East's largest Christian minority on March 18.

28. The body of Pope Shenouda III, the head of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church, is displayed for public viewing inside the Abassiya Cathedra in Cairo March 18, 2012. - Source: Reuters

30. Mourners, many of them in tears, have been arriving at the cathedral since Saturday, when Pope Shenouda's death was announced.

31. Members of the Church joined long queues to pay respects to their spiritual leader.

32. Coptic Christians mourn the 88-year-old pope Photograph: Amr Nabil/AP

33. Mourners in the Abassiya Cathedral Photograph: Khaled Elfiqi/EPA

34. AP Photo A woman reacts during the funeral of Pope Shenouda III at the Coptic Orthodox Church in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, March 18, 2012. 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, died Saturday. He was 88.

35. Under church law, the process of choosing Shenouda's successor can take up to three months, but an interim leader will be picked within a week Photograph: Khalil Hamra/AP

36. Copts have been paying their respects elsewhere in the world, including these priests in Jerusalem. Shenouda, who led the Church for four decades, banned pilgrims to the holy city in protest as Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem.

37. Ammar Awad / Reuters - A Coptic Christian priest holds candles next to a picture of Egyptian Coptic Christian Pope Shenouda III in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City on March 18.

38. A presentation by Nubia Nubia_group@yahoo.fr Nubiagroup-powerpoint-collection.blogspot.com/