It is said: “Some people are like history: they are neither repeated nor forgotten.”! The thrice beatified Pope ShenoudaIII, is a historical icon whose traces remain in human memory; talking about him is familiar to our souls and pleasant to our hearts. He is a journey across time; you enjoy his sweet speech, tender feelings and joyful smile, in each of his life busy stages, from childhood until he became a father and a good shepherd of the church, teaching, guiding and managing its affairs in ultimate wisdom. Wisdom is a path that pursued by the late Pope Shenouda III, that his name became associated with it. He was called “The Wise Pope” and “The Wise of the Arabs”, as he was an honest shepherd and patriarch for whose wisdom the world has borne witness.
However, wisdom is not an easy path strewn with roses, but rather a long road that extends through the journey of life, in which a person learns and masters something new every day, and acquires various virtues that shine in his life and the lives of others.
In the wisdom of Pope Shenouda III:
He led his life and others’
He managed to live in wisdom, whether in the world or the life of monasticism and asceticism, and he kept his service that God assigned to him when he became a bishop of education and then patriarch of thesee of Saint Mark, he cared about his people’s souls and needs, never turning away anyone who asked or resorted to him
Gaining Souls
He gained the love of those who dealt with him and met him, it was said about him: “Sitting with Pope Shenouda for the first time, you never feel alienated with him, but rather you start talking to him simply as if you have known him for many years.” Yes, he gained everyone with his love, smile, and wise simplicity. He gained his flock through his care and service since his bishopric until the patriarchate, along nearly half a century. He gained his fellow citizens of homeland with his love and affection, for example: He maintained great affectionate relations with Sheikh Mohammed SayedTantawi, the former Sheikh of Al-Azhar Mosque, the former Minister of Awqaf, Prof. Dr. Mahmoud HamdiZaqzouq, His Eminence Sheikh Ahmed Hassan Al-Baqouri, His Eminence Sheikh Muhammad Khater, the Mufti, His Eminence Sheikh Gad Al-Haq Ali Gad Al-Haq, Sheikh of Al-Azhar, and many others. He gained many through to his distinguished captivating writings of simple style, deep thought and wide impact, so they had a large number of Egyptian readers -Muslims and Christians- who followed them, in addition to his press talks and television interviews, which always grabbed attention. He gained a lot of international personalities during his several foreign trips, and in turn they all were keen to meet and visit him in Egypt.
Thought and Culture
In the life of Pope Shenouda III, wisdom was linked to knowledge and culture, so he set a special status for them both. Since his first steps, he has read the writings of many famous people in various fields, then he started to compose poetry in his early youth. He wrote articles in the Sunday School Journal (1949-1954). During his monasticism, he made copies of the sayings of the church fathers and taught them, he was entrusted with the secretariat of the library of the Monastery of Al-Sourian. Then he became the first bishop of education, ordained by Saint Pope Kyrillos VI; throughout his life, he carried a critical message which he did not cease to deliver until his death, leaving us a great treasure of nearly 140 books. He established the Institute of Care and Education, inaugurated the Bible Institute, the Coptic Language Institute, the Theology Department at the Institute of Coptic Studies, as well as scientific, research and cultural centers and institutions, including: “St. Mark’s Foundation for Coptic History Studies,” and “Pope Shenouda Center for Organization and Information Technology”, and the “Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center”.
Hence, the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center was keen to present the “Pope Shenouda III Award for Wisdom and Compassion” to people whose lives were featuredby wisdom and offering service to others. The following brilliant figures won the award, not for their titles or positions held at the time of the award- but rather for their efforts of great impact on humanity: Prof. Dr. Martin Schreiber, Professor and Head of the Department of Nephrology and Hypertension at Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, USA, winner of the “Best Doctor in America Award in 2013”, Eng. Hani Azer, a tunnel expert in Germany who supervised the construction of the Berlin train station, Eng. Ibrahim Samak, the solar energy scientist at Germany and the Head of the European Council for Renewable Energy for two terms in a row, the supervisor of the project of exporting solar energy from North Africa to Europe, Eng. OnsiNaguibSawiris, the Egyptian businessman, president and founder of the multi-activity group Orascom, Dr. PéterKveck, Ambassador of the State of Hungary in Cairo and Dr. Paolo Sabbatini, Director of the Italian Cultural Center and the Cultural Counselor at the Italian Embassy in Cairo. Few days ago, on the tenth anniversary of the departure of Pope Shenouda III, the award was won by Prof. Dr. RashadBarsoum, the former head of the Departments of Internal Medicine and the founder of the Kasr Al-Ainy Center for Kidney Diseases and Dialysis atCairo University. And…stories about beautiful Egypt never end!
The General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
