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I wanted to know if it's true that H.H. Pope Shenouda III said that it is not him who will give the Church to Christ, but the next Pope. I know that we should always be prepared and not scared and for Jesus’s return. Are there any other claims about Jesus’s return in our Coptic Church?

H.H. Pope Shenouda III of Blessed Memory was a very astute Church leader and a patriarch for more than forty years. He chose his words very carefully and was profoundly conscious of treading on topics in which there were no clear biblical teachings or teachings derived from the Holy Tradition. Thus, from wherever the statement to which you are referring evolved must have been taken out of context. Literature produced from the early Church Fathers as well as writings from the contemporary Fathers neither discuss this topic with specific dates or eras in mind. Though the Lord mentioned some signs of the end of days, they were not clearly vivid for the reason that we ought to remain watchful and prayerful at all times. Each day, the world is getting closer and closer to the Lord's return. We are certain it will happen, and will include the signs that He mentioned, but no one knows or can guess as to when. Let this preoccupation in your mind not consume you. Make the most of each day with the Lord and with every breath you take and every opportunity to improve and every new day to repent and start anew. Thus, watch and pray, repent and show the fruit of repentance with your good deeds and steadfast faith.

"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only" (Matthew 24:36).