Today 11 October 2023, the Coptic Church lost one of its iconic figures: Fr Samaan Ibrahim, founder and pastor of the monastery of St Samaan the Tanner at Muqattam Hill southeast of Cairo.
Fr Samaan passed in hospital where he had been moved a few weeks before he departed. He was on a ventillator during the last week of his life.
The widely loved priest was born on 5 December 1942, and was ordained a priest by Pope Shenouda III in 1978. In 1994, he was elevated to Hegumen.
Fr Samaan was famous for shepherding the garbage collector community that was resident at the foothill of Muqattam since the 1970s. He managed to turn the area from a squalid neighbourhood inhabited by an uneducated, unprincipled community into a principled, thriving one that pioneered recycling efforts. He worked hand in hand with the other priests that were ordained to the Muqattam area, and with civil society organisations to achieve that legendary change.
Among the epic works of Fr Samaan has been his founding of the monastery of St Simon the Tanner on Muqattam Hill. It is not strictly a “monastery” in the sense of the word; Copts use the word to indicate a conglomerate of churches and community services. In case of St Simon’s, the churches are housed in natural caves in the hill, or were hewn in the rock. It is an unequivocally singular place.
The priests of St Simon the Tanner Monastery issued a statement mourning Fr Samaan. Heading the statement was the Bible verse from Luke 1:23, “When the days of his service were completed, he departed to his home”. The statement cites his service in Muqattam, saying that “the Lord blessed all the work of his hands; so that he was beloved by everyone, Christian and Muslim”.
The funeral service for Fr Samaan will be held on Thursday 12 October at 2:00pm, following which he will be buried at the monastery St Simon the Tanner.
Watani International
11 October 2023
