Hindu leader greets Egypt's new Coptic pope

Indo-American statesman and Hindu leader Rajan Zed today greeted Bishop Tawadros II who was elected as new pope of Egypt's Coptic Christians.

Bishop Tawadros succeeds Pope Shenouda III who died in March at the age of 88. The 60-year-old will be the 118th leader of the Coptic Church.

Zed, in a statement, urged the new Pope of Alexandria to pioneer interfaith dialogue and work together with various world religions and denominations on issues facing the humanity

Such a dialogue might also help vanquish the stereotypes, prejudices, caricatures, etc., passed on to us from previous generations, Zed added.

"Religion is a complex component of human life. Dialogue helps us to see interconnections and interdependencies between religions and even similarities in doctrines," said Zed, who is president of the Nevada-based Universal Society of Hinduism.

He expressed that religions should at least work together on "common religious concerns like peace-making and peace-keeping, social and economic development, freedom and human rights".

The official enthronement ceremony for the newly elected pope is to take place on November 18.

Bishop Tawadros was chosen in an elaborate ceremony where a blindfolded boy drew the name of the next patriarch from a crystal chalice. He was one of the three candidates shortlisted to succeed Pope Shenouda III.

Tawadros was born in 1952 and studied pharmaceutical sciences at Alexandria University. He was ordained bishop in 1997.

After he became the pope-designate, Bishop Tawadros stated that he would reverse the political role of his predecessor.

"The most important thing is for the church to go back and live consistently within the spiritual boundaries because this is its main work, spiritual work," the New York Times quoted Tawadros as saying.

"Integrating in the society is a fundamental scriptural Christian trait. This integration is a must â€" moderate constructive integration. All of us, as Egyptians, have to participate," he said.

Christians from the Coptic Orthodox Church are minority with around ten per cent of Egypt's 83 million population.

Since late last year, the Muslim-dominated country witnessed several attacks targeting churches and believers. The radical Islamic Muslim Brotherhood, that now controls the government, has so far shown little interest to any of the concerns raised by Christians.