Egypt: Commemorating 40 Years of Pope Shenouda on Twitter  · Global Voices
Tarek Amr

This post is part of our special coverage Egypt Revolution 2011.
Pope Shenouda III celebrated on Monday the 40th anniversary of his ordination as Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt. The 40th anniversary coincided with the end of the 40 day mourning period after the Maspero massacre, where 27 Egyptians, mostly Coptic Christians, were killed.
In the Egyptian tradition, the 40th day after death is normally a mourning day, so many Coptic Egyptians did not expect Pope Shenouda to celebrate his ordination anniversary this year.
Naglaa Atef Beshay (@Nanyatef) wrote comparing the two events [ar]:
Pope Shenouda III, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of Saint Mark Episcopate. Image by Mahmoud Khaled, copyright Demotix (14/09/11).
استشهد قبل حوالي 40 يوما 27 شهيدا في يوم دامي مورست فيه ابشع انواع العنف ضد متظاهرين سلميين خرجو تنديدا بحرق كنيسة.
في الوقت الذي ثار الثوار احتجاجا علي مذبحة ماسبيرو و ادانوا المجلس العسكري بشكل واضح و صريح، استقبل البابا شنودة و المجلس المقدس المدبر و القاتل و المحرض بالابتسامات و الترحيب في صفقة اعتادنا عليها بين السلطة و السلطة، السياسية و الدينية.
About 40 days ago, 27 martyrs died in a bloody day when one of the most brutal acts was committed on peaceful demonstrators, who went out to condemn the burning of a church, which happened earlier.
At the same time the revolutionaries demonstrated to clearly and directly condemn the Maspero massacre and SCAF (Supreme Council of Armed Forces), Pope Shenouda and the Holy Synod met with those who planned, instigated and committed the massacre with a welcoming smile, in a deal we are used to see between the two authorities –  the political and the religious authorities.
She then compared the stance of Alaa Abdel-Fattah – an activist who is currently detained [ar] – to that of the Church:
Seeing this Diana and Mina Zekri decided to create a new hashtag on Twitter to celebrate the Pope's 40th ordination  anniversary in their own way:
@minazekri: @_TaMaTeM_ or #40fuckinyears
Diana started by criticizing how religious figures in Egypt want people to follow them blindly.
The Egyptian law makes it harder for Christians to build new churches, and that's why some people called for a unified law for building places of worship for all religions. But according to RunGeo, Pope Shenouda had a different opinion.
Mina Zekri added that sectarianism and hatred for other religions and sects in Pope Shenouda's era reached an unprecedented level. He then continued to explain to Rehab Bassam (@hadouta) what he means.
Nany Atef shared the same opinion with Mina about Sunday Schools [ar].
When it comes to the Pope's political role and relation with the regime, Hany George wrote that the Pope was against the Maspero protest. Wael El-Moghany described Pope Shenoda's era as 40 years of deals with the regime and Mina Samir criticized the Pope's preference for the Copts to be protected by the regime's politics and police instead of them being protected by the love of the people around them.
And Mina Zekri reminds us:
Michael Makary added:
@iMakary: #40FuckinYears of not perusing prosecuting anyone who killed Christians in cold blood. #fact
Zekri then noticed that almost all those who are participating in the hashtag are Christians, so he called on Muslims to participate too [Ar]. So Mahmoud Kassem compared the Coptic Church's ideology to that of the Salafists.
Mohamed Fouda added his two cents to the hashtag:
@mohamedfouda: We should learn that no man is above criticism even those who call themselves clergy men, as no man is divine #40FuckinYears #Salafis
Finally, Dalia Ezzat called it “an amazing courage by some Egyptian Copts criticizing their religious leadership”, while Sotsoy – like many other users – found it “distasteful”. Peter Gamil said he is against ordination celebrations now, but he is also against the way people criticized the Pope in the hashtag. He also added that they Pope did not forget the Martyrs of Maspero, however in the Christian traditions they should be happy for the martyrs and celebrate their martyrdom instead of mourning it. Beshoy Naeem called it “social hypocrisy” and Fadi Mckean sees it as a way for some Christians to prove how secular they are.
And Heba Khafagy added:
@HebaKhafagy79: #40FuckinYears I really feel that this hashtag is uncalled for..plz u guyz show some respect..criticize but i must draw a line for cursing
This post is part of our special coverage Egypt Revolution 2011.