Egyptian Coptics Honor Their Pope, Shenouda III Mohammed Hossam/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images The coffin of Pope Shenouda III was carried from Saint Mark's Cathedral in Cairo on Tuesday. CAIRO (AP) - Tearful and wearing mourning black, tens of thousands of Egyptian Coptic Christians joined Tuesday a funeral mass for their patriarch, Pope Shenouda III, led by senior clerics at the main cathedral in Cairo. St. Mark's Cathedral was packed full with local clerics, visiting clergymen and dignitaries as deacons chanted somber hymns and bearded, black-clad priests and monks recited prayers and dispensed incense smoke from censers. Shenouda's body lay in a white casket in the elaborate regalia he traditionally wore to oversee services, complete with an ornate golden crown. Many in the congregation broke down in tears, while others frantically waved goodbye as the mass came to a close. Clerics, deacons and laypeople gathered around the casket, kissing it, standing in silence or bowing in respect. Tens of thousands more who could not get in followed the mass outside the cathedral, carrying portraits of Shenouda and crosses. Many wept, wiping tears off their faces as the melancholic tunes of the hymns reached them through loudspeakers. Scores of military police were deployed to maintain security outside the cathedral, with the normally congested traffic of central Cairo backed up for hours because of the crowds. The cathedral is located on a main downtown artery. I know he is now in a better place, but it is difficult now he's gone. We miss you," said a grief-stricken Marianne Saad as she stood in the crowd outside the cathedral. "After God, he was our only protector," lamented another young woman in the crowd. "We will miss him, but he will always be in our hearts," said a young Christian man, Hani Suleiman. Shenouda died on Saturday at age 88 after spending 40 years at the helm of the Coptic Orthodox Church, one of the world's most ancient Christian denominations. Most of Egypt's estimated 10 million Christians are Orthodox Copts. After the mass, Shenouda's body was ferried to a military airport east of Cairo, from which it was to be flown later on Tuesday to the desert St. Bishoy monastery northwest of the capital where he will buried. The monastery, which dates back to the 4th century, has been a favorite of Shenouda's. He spent more than three years of exile there after he was banished in 1981 by late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, who claimed the patriarch was fomenting sectarian strife. Sadat's successor, longtime authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak, released the Pope in 1985. Egypt's military ruler, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, declared a nationwide state of mourning on Tuesday. A successor to Pope Shenouda has yet to be found and it could take months before the complex process is completed. Egypt's Coptic Christians have long complained of discrimination by the nation's Muslim majority. The political ascent of Islamists since the ouster of Mubarak a year ago has added to their worries. Words, my beloved, can never do Pope Shenouda justice. He left us an example of leadership that we should all follow," a senior cleric said in an address to the congregation. It is because of him that we have national unity with our Muslim brothers. During his 40 years as patriarch, Shenouda strove to ensure his place among the main players in this mainly Muslim nation, pressing demands behind the scenes while keeping Christians' anger over violence and discrimination in check. It was a delicate balancing act. Shenouda maintained a high media profile, giving interviews, speaking on key domestic and regional developments and never allowing himself to show anger at times of crisis. Egyptian authorities deny any discrimination, but Christians say it happens in numerous and subtle ways. Christians, for example, rarely assume leadership jobs on the police force, particularly the security agencies. The Islamist-dominated parliament only has a handful of Christians, and there are never more than one or two Christians among 30-plus Cabinet ministers.