MIDDLE EAST EYE | Aug. 3, 2018
A murder in a northern monastery has prompted an official investigation and online speculation – with the Church clamping down as a result.
Egypt’s Coptic Pope Tawadros II has ordered himself and all monks off social media, calling it a “waste of age, life and purity”, following the mysterious murder of a bishop in a monastery northwest of Cairo.
Bishop Epiphanius, the abbot of Saint Macarius Monastery in northern Egypt’s Wadi el-Natrun, was found dead on Sunday in an incident authorities have said is highly suspicious.
As speculation began to swirl over the events, Tawadros II on Thursday instructed all monks under his authority to suspend their social media accounts, going one step further the next day by revealing he too would be leaving Facebook.
“Time is the most precious gift that God gives us every day and we must use it properly,” the pope said in his final Facebook post.