Egyptian monk charged with murder
of Coptic Orthodox bishop
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| A man look at an Egyptian Coptic cross placed on a rock.- AFP |
Prosecutors in Egypt have charged a former monk with the
murder of Coptic Orthodox Bishop Epiphanius, who was found dead in a pool of
blood on July 29th at his desert monastery.
By Nathan Morley
The murder of Bishop Epiphanius shocked members of the
Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt.
The 64-year-old scholar, who served as the Abbot of the
Monastery of San Macario, was found dead at his desert monastery on July 29th.
The monastery is around 100-kilometres outside the capital
Cairo.
Police investigations concluded that the bishop had been
struck with a sharp instrument; which had left him with fractures in the back
of his skull.
Former monk charged
Now prosecutors say Wael Saad, a former monk at the monastery - who was defrocked last week - confessed to using an iron bar to bludgeon the bishop; however, there is no known motive for the crime, but it is reported he was being investigated by the victim for violating some rules of monasticism.
Saad has now been charged and remains in custody, as
investigations continue. The Coptic Orthodox Church has frozen the recruitment
of new monks for the next 12-months, banned the use of social media, and
instructed monks that leaving monastery grounds requires official
permission.
Researcher and scholar
Epiphanius - a disciple of Matta el Meskin - was a key figure in the modern history of the Coptic Orthodox Church. He lived intense spiritual relationships with his friends and members of the monastic communities of the Catholic Church.
A native of Tanta, he had a degree in medicine. He became a
priest in 2002 after entering the Great Monastery of Saint Macarius in 1984.
Abbot Epiphanius worked on translations, from Greek to Arabic, of several books
of the Bible.
A researcher and scholar, he took part in the 10th
international Conference on Coptic studies in Rome in 2012. One year later, he
was elected Abbot by the 100 monks of the Monastery of Saint Macarius.
Coptic Christians make up an estimated 10 percent of the
population in Egypt.
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