埃及科普特人哀悼教宗并担忧未来

Egypt is in mourning for the patriarch of the Coptic Church, Pope Shenouda, who died Saturday at the age of 88. The Coptic community is preparing both for his funeral and a future made more uncertain by the political ascendancy of Islamists.

埃及正在哀悼星期六去世、享年88岁的科普特教会教宗谢努达。科普特社区正在为谢努达教宗的葬礼以及由于伊斯兰势力在政界的上升所造成的更不确定的未来进行准备。

Pope Shenouda

Coptic mourners lined for hours outside Cairo's main cathedral to pay their last respects to the only patriarch most had ever known. Pope Shenouda's 40-year tenure as patriarch of the Coptic Church reinforced for many not only their place in the religious sphere, but also the political landscape of an increasingly Islamist Egypt.

科普特哀悼者在开罗大教堂外排队好几个小时，来向这位唯一让绝大多数人耳熟能详的主教进行最后的告别和致敬。教宗谢努达作为科普特教会主教的40年任期，对于很多人来说，不仅加强了他们在宗教领域的力量，而且也增强了他们在当下伊斯兰势力不断上升的埃及国内的政治地位。

Cairo resident Nashaat Nagy stood with his patient young daughter in the crowds that filled the main streets and alleyways around Abassaya cathedral.

开罗居民纳吉和他耐心等待的年幼女儿都在排队的人群中，排队的民众挤满了阿巴萨亚教堂周围的大街小巷。

“We come to see our beloved Pope Shenouda for the last time," he said. "We knew him for 40 years. He's the only one we trusted in Egypt.”

纳吉说：“我们来见我们亲爱的教宗谢努达最后一面。我们认识他已经40年了。他是我们在埃及唯一信任的人。”

Rise of Islamists

Shenouda's death Saturday comes at a crossroads for the country's estimated 10 million Coptic Christians, as some, like mourner Wadie Agaiby, worry about the rise of political Islam after the fall of President Hosni Mubarak.

谢努达星期六的去世，正当埃及大约1千万科普特基督徒处于一个十字路口的关键时期。一些像哀悼者瓦迪·阿盖比这样的人，对穆巴拉克总统倒台之后不断上升的伊斯兰政治势力感到担忧。

“It's a very difficult time for us, this time, because it's a different time, a difficult time," said Agaiby. "We don't know what we are going to do.”

他说：“现在是我们非常艰难的时期，因为这是一个不同的时期，困难的时期。我们不知道我们要做些什么。”

Shenouda, the 117th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of All Africa, led his church with what many in the crowd said was a kind but strong hand. He was able to navigate the often treacherous religious politics of his era. He was banished by President Anwar Sadat in the early 1980's to a desert monastery, where he will be buried Tuesday, but returned to forge a careful path with President Mubarak. He balanced support for the government with a conservative, some say insular approach, that bound his faithful but avoided most conflict with the nation's majority Muslims.

谢努达作为第117任亚历山大教宗以及全非洲主教，用很多人群中民众的话说，是用仁慈和坚强的方式领导着他的教会。他能够驾驭他所处时代那种危险多变的宗教政治局势。他在1980年代早期，曾经被当时的萨达特总统流放到一座沙漠里的修道院，那里也是他星期二即将被安葬的地方。后来返回之后，他和穆巴拉克总统之间建立起一种小心翼翼的关系。他用一种保守的，甚至有些人说是与世隔绝的方式，来平衡对政府的支持，这种做法不仅保住了他的信众，而且也避免了和埃及占大多数的穆斯林之间绝大部分的矛盾。