Pope Shenouda III, the Patriarch of more than 10 million Egypt Christians, died on Saturday. He was 88 years old. The Patriarch suffered from back and kidney problems for years and was reported to have died from complications in health and from old age.

Pope Shenouda was born Nazeer Gayed into a devoutly Christian family on 3 August 1923 in Asyut, Upper Egypt. He graduated with a history degree from Cairo University and at the same attending Coptic theological classes during night. He became a monk in 1954, taking the name Father Antonios el-Syriani, and lived in a cave as a hermit for six years, spending his time praying and meditating. He was ordained as bishop by Pope Cyril IV in 1962 and took the name Shenouda after the 4th century scholar Saint Shenouda the Archimandrite. He was also made Dean of the Coptic Orthodox Theological Seminary eventually tripling the number of students studying at the centre.

For Egypt’s Christians, he was a charismatic leader, known for his sense of humor — his smiling portrait was hung in many Coptic homes and shops — and a deeply conservative religious thinker who resisted calls by liberals for reform.

Above all, many Copts saw him as the guardian of their community living amid a Muslim majority in a country of more than 80 million people. Christians have long complained of being treated as second-class citizens, saying they face discrimination and that police generally fail to prosecute those behind anti-Christian attacks.

The Coptic Church is a form of Christianity developed in Egypt. It is widely believed to have been started by one of Christ's apostles, Mark, in the 1st century AD, when he traveled to Egypt during the reign of Nero. Pope Athanasius, fourth century Patriarch of Alexandria, ordained Frumentius (Kesate Birhan Abba Salama) as the first Patriarch of Ethiopia in 328 AD. Up on his return from Alexanderia, Frumentius erected his Episcopal seat at Axum, and baptized Emperor Ezana as the first Christian Emperor of Ethiopia. Since then the Ethiopian Church had been administratively part of the Coptic Orthodox Church until 1959, when it was granted its own Patriarch (Abuna Basillios) by the predecessor of Pope Shenouda and Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of All Africa, Cyril VI.

Pope Shenouda’s first major test came in 1976 when the Patriarch of Ethiopia, Abuna Theophilos, was arrested by the military junta that deposed Emperor Haile Selassie. Pope Shenouda III refused to recognize the installment of Abuna Tekle Haymanot as the Ethiopian Patriarch's successor. He argued that the removal of Abune Tewophilos was illegal and un-canonical as it was an act of political interference. Formal ties between the Churches of Alexandria and Ethiopia were severed although they remained in full communion. Formal relations between the two churches resumed on July 13, 2007.

Pope Shenouda III was credited for worldwide expansion of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. It is now estimated that more than 1.5 million Coptic Christians live in North America and Australia.

His death comes as the country’s Christians are feeling more vulnerable than ever amid the rise of Islamic movements to political power after the toppling a year ago of President Hosni Mubarak. The months since have seen a string of attacks on the community, heightened anti-Christian rhetoric by ultraconservatives known as Salafis and fears that coming government’s will try to impose strict versions of Islamic law, Reports the Associated Press