Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I join other colleagues in paying my respects to Pope Shenouda III, who died on 17 March 2012. I did not personally know Pope Shenouda, but I knew of him. He was a person befitting the tributes that have flowed from around the world in acknowledgement of his passing and, more importantly, in acknowledgement of his life of fostering goodwill, understanding and harmony between people of all nations. From the time that he became the 117th Pope of Alexandria on 14 November 1971, he presided over a worldwide expansion of the Coptic church, with hundreds of new parishes being established in over 70 countries.

His death, however, comes at a critical time for Coptic Christians in Egypt, who in recent times have been the target of attacks resulting in deaths, injuries and property damage. This House debated a motion about the persecution of Coptic Christians last October and in my contribution to that debate I spoke about some of the ongoing violence that has been occurring in Egypt. Subsequently I attended a church service with Adelaide's Coptic Christians at St Mary and Anba Bishoy Coptic Orthodox Church in Adelaide, in the federal electorate of Hindmarsh, where I heard further accounts of the violence and persecution being committed against Coptic Christians in Egypt.

Persecution of Christians continues in many parts of the world today, as has been the case since the birth of Jesus Christ. Wherever Christianity poses a threat to religious extremism, injustice, discrimination or political tyranny, Christians have been persecuted and killed. Over the centuries, many Christians have died because of their beliefs. It is my view that the greatest world leaders have been men and women who have endured their own struggles in life, because from struggles come wisdom and strength of mind. Great leaders are also men and women of peace. Pope Shenouda III was clearly such a person, living as a hermit from 1956 to 1962 and later being arrested and sent into exile in the Nitrian Desert by President Anwar Sadat. He was released some three years after President Sadat's death by President Hosni Mubarak. He led his church for 41 years, standing up against injustice wherever he saw it and taking a political stand that was driven by his Christian faith.

The Coptic church in Egypt has indeed a long history, but Coptic Christians are today a minority group representing about 10 per cent of the population. Coptic Christians continue to be victimised by Islamic extremists, yet Pope Shenouda was a strong believer in coexistence. He promoted understanding between Christianity and Islam, but he also forged strong links between Coptic Christians and other Christians in the world, meeting with Pope Paul VI in Rome in 1973 and signing a Joint Declaration of Faith in the Incarnation of the Son of God.

Coptic Christians around the world have lost a great leader. The world has lost a great statesman. His life will be remembered with affection and respect by all who knew him. The many tributes to his life and the tens of thousands of people around the world who today mourn his death are testimony to the esteem in which he was held. To Coptic Christians around the world I extend my respects and my sympathy at the loss of Pope Shenouda III.

See this speech in context