The National Postal Authority last Thursday held a launching ceremony for a commemorative stamp it has issued to honour Pope Shenouda III who passed away at the age of 89 on 17 March 2012
The National Postal Authority last Thursday held a launching ceremony for a commemorative stamp it has issued to honour Pope Shenouda III who passed away at the age of 89 on 17 March 2012. Attending were public and media figures; Anba Marqos, bishop-general of Shubral-Kheima, Cairo, represented the Coptic Orthodox Church.
“The postal authority is always keen to issue stamps to mark national and important occasions. Issuing the five-Egyptian-pounds stamp of Pope Shenouda III coincides with the celebration of his arbaeen (literally forty, the date marking the passage of 40 days after a person’s death—a custom linked to the ancient Egyptian tradition of mummification),” Mossaad Abdel-Ghani who heads the postal authority said. He said a million units had been issued of the Pope’s stamp, and that the postal authority had received a demand for 20,000 units by an Egyptian from Canada.
“The picture of the Pope on the stamp was chosen jointly with the Coptic Orthodox Church from among seven photographs,” Mr Ghani said. The stamp was designed by Samir Hosny, head of the postal authority’s printing department.
Watani International
22 April 2012