H*5096 Concurrent Resolution, By Barfield
 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION TO EXPRESS THE PROFOUND SORROW OF THE MEMBERS OF THE
 SOUTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY UPON THE DEATH OF HIS HOLINESS POPE SHENOUDA
 III OF ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT, AND TO EXTEND THE DEEPEST SYMPATHY TO THE COPTIC
 ORTHODOX CHURCH OF ALEXANDRIA.

   03/28/12  House  Introduced, adopted, sent to Senate
                     (House Journal-page 47)
   03/28/12  Senate Introduced, adopted, returned with concurrence
                     (Senate Journal-page 12)

TO EXPRESS THE PROFOUND SORROW OF THE MEMBERS OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY UPON THE DEATH OF HIS HOLINESS POPE SHENOUDA III OF ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT, AND TO EXTEND THE DEEPEST SYMPATHY TO THE COPTIC ORTHODOX CHURCH OF ALEXANDRIA.

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina General Assembly were deeply saddened to learn of the death of His Holiness Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria, Egypt, on March 17, 2012, at the venerable age of eighty-eight; and

Whereas, born Nazeer Gayed Roufail on August 3, 1923, in Asyut, Upper Egypt, he was the youngest of a family of eight children. By the age of sixteen, young Gayed was active in the Coptic Sunday School movement and in his church served as a Sunday School teacher; and

Whereas, after graduating from Cairo University with a degree in history, he worked by day as a high school English and social studies teacher in Cairo and by night attended classes at the Coptic Theological Seminary, from which he graduated in 1949; and

Whereas, in October 1971, he was elected head of his church and given the age-old official title of Pope of Alexandria and patriarch of the See of Saint Mark. He was consecrated a month later as the 117th successor to Saint Mark, author of the oldest canonical Gospel and founder of the Coptic Orthodox Church; and

Whereas, in all things, His Holiness was a devoted father and teacher. Despite his innumerable competing responsibilities and obligations, he never desisted from his weekly lectures, continuing to prepare and offer them even while in the throes of his illness. His millions of children throughout the globe learned not only from these weekly lectures and his many books and publications but also by the example he set as a model of discipline, courage, and compassion; and

Whereas, His Holiness' papacy saw an unprecedented expansion in the Coptic Church throughout the world. It also marked revivals in Sunday School education and monasticism that will impact generations of Coptic Orthodox Christians to come. Yet his church remembers him especially for the genuine love with which he cared for his flock for more than forty years and the true joy he displayed in Christ; and

Whereas, he leaves to cherish his memory the faithful of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and many other admirers worldwide. He will be greatly missed. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:

That the members of the South Carolina General Assembly, by this resolution, express their profound sorrow upon the death of His Holiness Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria, Egypt, and extend the deepest sympathy to the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.