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Each time Pope Shenouda, the head of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church, enters a church sanctuary, bishops and priests shield him from the throng reaching out to touch him for a blessing. The high-pitched sound of ululating women fills the air, a moving testament to his high office.

Pope Shenouda remains vigorous at 83. He is a gifted preacher, and his weekly Bible lesson draws thousands of people to the stately Orthodox cathedral in central Cairo. Pope Shenouda is the first Coptic Orthodox leader to allow everyday believers to ask him questions. At the Bible lessons, people scribble questions on little pieces of paper and pass them forward to the pope. He answers them one by one, often with a touch of humor. People listen attentively, aware that their pope takes their problems seriously.

Egypt has the largest Christian population in the Arabic-speaking world; estimates range from 3.4 to 13.5 million. Most of Egypt's Christian leaders believe that Christians represent 10 to 12 percent of the population. But French scholar Philippe Farges estimates, based on his field research, that Christians make up about 5 percent (3.5 million). Other reliable research, based on interviews of Christians among army conscripts in the last 15 years, supports his findings.

At least 90 percent of Christians belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church, a member of the family of non-Chalcedonian (Oriental) Orthodox churches. Coptic church tradition identifies its founder as St. Mark, considered the first Coptic patriarch.

The remaining 10 percent of Christians in Egypt are affiliated with Roman Catholic, evangelical, and smaller Protestant churches. According to Operation World, the non-Orthodox Christian population is over 500,000. The Catholic and Protestant churches are generally better connected to the West. They have much smaller percentages of members in poverty. They believe social outreach programs should also address the needs of poor Orthodox and Muslims.

By contrast, many Orthodox bishops and priests believe their resources should be used primarily for their own Christian community. But the well-known Coptic Orthodox monk, Father Matta el-Meskeen, 86, has disagreed strongly. Having witnessed great spiritual and material poverty throughout Egypt, Matta has reached out to the masses. Says Father Basilius, a prominent disciple, "Father Matta believes that whatever a person receives from God for his own benefit he should share with others."

Both Shenouda and Matta have had a tremendous influence on their church in the second half of the 20th century. They represent different but complementary views on church reform: Shenouda as a leader of congregations and a teacher of doctrine, and Matta as the father of revival within Egypt's ancient desert monasteries.

These two leaders have very different personalities. Two late 20th-century bishops, Samuel and Athanasius, told John Watson, author of the book Among the Copts (Sussex Academic Press, 2000), that they saw Matta as a natural leader, although he had no place in the church hierarchy. These two bishops considered Matta as a team leader without pretensions to leadership. Watson describes Shenouda, in contrast, as strongly hierarchical in his leadership style.

Both leaders have their roots in the Sunday-school movement, a highly influential reform movement in the Coptic Orthodox Church, which Coptic laity started in the 1930s. Before he took his clerical name of Matta el-Meskeen, Youssef Iskander was an instructor at the Sunday School Center in Giza, near Cairo. This center has a strong commitment to meet the physical and spiritual needs of poor people.

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December 3 2001, Vol. 45, No. 15